


The Time Child

by DanniFielding



Series: The Time Child Saga [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-05-17 20:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 56,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14838845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanniFielding/pseuds/DanniFielding
Summary: Danielle Fielding is given a toy Vortex Manipulator for Christmas, and her whole life is turned upside down. She is shot from one part of the Doctor's timeline to another, spanning three incarnations and with no control. Follow her adventures, her ups and downs, as she lives out everyone's dream; she gets to travel with the Doctor. Eleven/OC, slight 10/OC and vague 9/OC if you squint REALLY hard. First in the Time Child Saga.





	1. The Runaway Bride

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Welcome to the Time Child. Some of you may recognise this story from fanfiction.net, for most of you it's probably very new. I've been writing and posting on there for five years and have decided it's time to spread my wings, as it were!
> 
> So please enjoy! I'm going to aim for weekly updates, so keep an eye out!

For as long as she could remember, which was maybe the last seventeen of her twenty-two years of life, Danni had always loved Christmas. Not just the day, although it was always fantastic getting presents, but the entire Christmas period. Spending time with friends and family, the music, the general atmosphere, all appealed to her and she always felt her happiest in the last month of the year.

This year it had actually snowed, in the UK, on Christmas! Well, alright, it was maybe a day or four beforehand, but it was the closest she had ever seen since she was a baby. She couldn't stop the grin on her face as she trudged through the couple of inches on the floor, heading towards her best friend Claire’s house for their pre-Christmas meet up. For the last couple of years, they had met up a couple of days before the big day to exchange presents before Claire headed down south to her parents and Danni went slightly north to her parents. It was one of the joys of being a university student; you were now considered old enough to cook your own food and wash your own clothes unless you went home to your parents, so no one ever stayed in the vicinity unless absolutely necessary. She knocked on the front door of the red brick house, managing to hide the gift bag she was carrying behind her back before it flung open. Claire was still in her pyjamas, blonde hair sticking up in every direction, in contrast to Danni who was in her big coat and matching scarf and glove combo with her deep red hair sticking out from underneath her woolly hat in pigtails.

“I am so sorry; I was up all last night because next door decided to have a bloody party without warning. _Again_!” Claire screamed around the doorframe at her bothersome next-door neighbours. Danni’d had many encounters with them in the past, and it was generally known that they were inconsiderate party animals. It always made her slightly glad that she’d stayed in halls for her third year rather than in the house as Claire had suggested that summer. She’d never lived well with people anyway, but for the most part people left the halls to get drunk and rowdy.

Danni shrugged. “No problem. Let me in, it's freezing.”

Claire did just that. She made sure to give the finger to the house next door, like it would have made any difference, as she headed back inside. Danni took a moment to take her coat and shoes off in the hallway, she didn’t want to trudge snow in through the house, and then she headed to the living room.

Claire was the last one out of her housemates to go home for the holidays so Danni flopped down on the well-loved sofa and pulled her feet up on it without worrying about encroaching on all the free space. Claire had disappeared for a moment but followed shortly afterwards now wearing an oversized Christmas jumper and carrying a gift bag.

Danni grabbed the one she’d brought and they held them out to each other, getting straight down to business so they could spend the rest of the day watching TV.

“ _So here it is, Merry Christmas!_ ” Danni sang out loudly as she pulled out a box-shaped present from the bright bag Claire had given her. It was too fat to be a DVD or book and she tore into it with the enthusiasm of a small child. Claire did the same with her small present and squealed at the silver necklace Danni had bought her.

“Oh my god I love it!” she cried. Danni laughed joyfully at the Doctor Who box that had be wrapped in shiny paper. She held it up to her chest as she turned to her friend.

“You know the way to my heart,” she complimented her friend as she gazed down at River Song, who was looking back up at her with a smirk; all bushy hair and full of sass. Inside the dark blue box was a faux leather Vortex Manipulator with built in calculator and time and date display. She ripped it out of the box and placed it on her wrist.

“Where on earth did you get this?”

“Ebay,” Claire replied simply. “I think it came over from America. It must of, it took like a month to arrive. I didn't think it was coming at all to be honest. That's why there's something else in there.”

Danni hadn’t even noticed, but inside the bag was another wrapped up gift. She tore the wrapping off and found a child’s Eleventh Doctor dress-up kit. She quickly took the red bow tie out and placed it around her neck with the same eagerness Claire had done with her necklace.

“This is the best thing ever!”

The friends hugged tightly, then Claire joined her on the sofa, grabbing the remote as she did. “I think there’s a movie on BBC1,” the blonde told her.

_~0~0~0~_

As the credits of Toy Story 2 began scrolling down the screen Danni stretched and turned to her best friend, who was curled up on the opposite side of the sofa hugging a cushion to her chest.

“So, Miss Claire Watson, now what?” Danni asked, placing a faux posh accent on her friend’s name.

“Dunno. I'm thirsty though, what time is it Miss Danielle Fielding?” She replied in the same style. Danni flipped open the toy on her wrist and showed it dramatically to her.

“Well, this is flashing 12 am because I haven't set it yet, and personally I think 12 am means only one thing…”

They both threw their arms up in celebration. “ _Snowballs_!”

Claire jumped up from the sofa. “I'll bring the stuff!”

Danni smiled warmly as she watched her friend run out of the room. They were only visiting their families for a week or so but she was really going to miss her. She looked down at the Vortex Manipulator, poking a few of the buttons to try and change the time and date but all that happened was she found out 2312 minus 2012 was 300, which she did actually know. She frowned and looked around.

“Where's the box for this thing? I want to set the time on it,” she called through to the kitchen.

“Down the side of the sofa. I had to move it ‘cause it was digging into my back,” Claire replied and she pulled it up and took out the instructions. After flipping through the manual to try and find the English instructions she opened it up and did as it said _. Press the red button, type in the date first then the time and press the red button again_. She typed in the 25th of December 2012 and grinned to herself.

“ _Oh I wish it could be Christmas every day!_ ” she sang loudly and Claire's laugh floated through. She then pressed the button on the remote to bring up the time on the television. 14.40; that was typed into the pad and she looked at it with a thoughtful frown before checking the instructions to clear the screen then typed in 14.40 on the 25th of December 2006.

“I'm just off to 2006, won't be a moment,” she called into the kitchen.

“Bring back some lemonade with you. I can't find any anywhere,” Claire called back.

“Will do.”

Danni giggled to herself, sometimes it was so much fun being a grown-up child, and forcefully slammed her finger onto the red button. She gasped then groaned in pain as it felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her vision went white, and she curled up as she felt herself drop to the ground with a thud.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni winced as a female voice rang through her head, waking her sharply up from her sleep. She hated being woken up, mornings were never something she wanted to live through. She opened her eyes and found herself not in her bed, but on a metal floor in a room she could not place but seemed familiar.

“Who are you?!” Danni sat up and saw a ginger woman in a wedding dress screaming furious at a man in a pinstriped suit. Not just a ginger woman, Catherine Tate. Catherine Tate was stood in front of her screaming at David Tennant.

“But...” he looked around the console room dumbfounded.

“Where am I?” Catherine shouted again.

“What?” He seemed to be rather confused and she smiled at the look on his face. She had no idea what was going on, but she loved this part.

“What the hell is this place?”

“ _What?_ ”

Danni pushed herself up. Maybe she got an electric shock from the toy. That must be it. She was unconscious. She laughed in relief; oh, thank god for that. The pair turned to look at her and David grinned happy at her.

“Danni, are you alright?” He rushed over and helped her steady herself as she seemed to be rather off balance.

“Yes, yes I'm fine. This is just the best dream ever,” she replied with a grin.

“Where were you? Did you just come from the 1950's?” he asked hopefully and she laughed.

“No, sorry mate. 2012 through and through here. I'm guessing I'm heading back there in a few moments when Claire finds me on the floor unconscious,” she motioned to Catherine who just seemed to be getting increasingly angrier at the fact that she was being ignored. “Don't let me interrupt you, David. Carry on, I love this episode.”

He looked her up and down, taking in every detail. “Is this your first time here?” he finally asked and she nodded.

“Unfortunately, it is,” she replied, thoroughly amused. He closed his eyes as if he was in pain then they shot open and he looked at her confused.

“Did you just call me David?”

Danni shook her head in exasperation and pointed behind her. “Aren't you forgetting someone?” He jumped in realisation and spun back around to face Catherine, who stared back at him aggressively.

He then turned back to Danni, still not quite able to shake the confused look on his face. “Are you wearing a bowtie?”

She reached up around her neck, nodding to herself as she did. “I guess I am,” she agreed before smirking at him. “You always liked a bowtie.”

“What does…” he started before sighing. All she would do would be to throw that ‘ _spoilers’_ word in his face and he wouldn’t get anything else from her about it. Sometimes he really hated not knowing what she did. He preferred when he was the cleverest person in the room.

But, she was right, and he turned his attention back to the bride who had appeared out of nowhere. She looked furious about being ignored, but that was the least of his worries right now.

“You can't- You can’t just appear in the TARDIS,” he accused. “I wasn't... we're in flight! That is-- that is physically impossible! How did--”

As he fell back into the situation, a stutter in his voice, Danni had to marvel at how her brain seemed to be able to recall the script and yet edit it to allow for her own intervention. Maybe she was some sort of dream genius. That would be awesome.

She’d also added in the details of the console room. There was no crew, no cameras. Just more railings around the edge to create the circle of the elevated platform they were on. But that wasn’t particularly awesome, after all she’d seen many a set photo in her time. The console room was complete, with her own dream Doctor and Donna to join in. She giggled to herself; _Doctor-Donna,_ even.

“Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now - where am I?” Donna cried agitated. Danni couldn't blame her, she was getting married after all.

The Doctor just stared at her as if it was obvious. “Inside the TARDIS.” Danni shook her head; even if she hadn't seen the episode she could see where this was heading.

“The what?”

“The TARDIS.”

“The what?”

“The TARDIS!”

The Doctor turned back to the controls of the ship but his words were just gibberish to Donna. “The what?”

“She’s called the TARDIS,” Danni chipped in, wanting to get the most out of this situation while it lasted. She couldn't wait to tell Claire about this. She would have a fit knowing that she hadn't experienced it. She pretended that she didn’t like Doctor Who, but Danni knew differently.

Donna glared at her angrily. “That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things,” she exclaimed.

“How did you get in here?” the Doctor tried again, still trying to work out how she had suddenly appeared in the TARDIS.

“Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh, my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it.”

The Doctor turned to watch her rant, looking her up and down as if the answer would just pop out of her. “Who the hell is Nerys?” he asked her as his curiosity got the best of him.

“Your best friend,” she snapped back.

“No, that's her,” he pointed to Danni, who blinked at him in confusion for a moment. Oh, right the dream. She smiled back happily and he grinned before he turned back to Donna. “Hold on, wait a minute - what're you dressed like that for?”

“I'm going ten pin bowling,” she told him sarcastically. “Why do you think, Dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle!” The Doctor began fiddling with the console as Danni watched Donna begin to rant. “I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away! And then you-- I dunno, you two drugged me or something!” The Doctor looked startled.

“Hang on a minute, I haven't done anything! You watched me appear!” Danni exclaimed, feeling slightly offended at being brought into her accusation. Donna didn’t care that she’d upset her, though, and just shot her a dirty look. 

“We're having the police on you! Me and my husband - as soon as he is my husband - we're gonna sue the living backside off ya!” the Doctor didn't reply and Danni didn't really know what to say as Donna noticed the TARDIS doors. She rushed over to them and threw them open, despite the Doctor's protests. She gaped as she saw the supernova they were floating around, her wind taken out of her at the sight outside. Danni had to agree, it was pretty spectacular. It definitely looked better in person than when the Doctor had been saying goodbye to Rose.

Danni’s mouth fell open slightly. _Oh_ , he’d just said goodbye to Rose, hadn’t he? She looked at him again as he approached the magically appearing bride. Poor Doctor. She hated seeing him hurting on the television, in person it suddenly seemed a lot worse.

Suddenly the way he walked over seemed a lot sadder. She knew that this episode seemed like a giant distraction from the pain that he’d faced, and she’d always seen it as that, but suddenly this dream was making that seem less likely. Her heart ached for the lonely time traveller. Would he let her give him a hug?

“You're in space. Outer Space,” the Doctor explained to Donna gently. “This is my... space-ship. It's called the 'TARDIS'.”

Danni walked over to join them, slotting herself in the other side of the doorway. She knew how this would go, however she just wanted to take another look at the outside before she woke up. She wanted to try and commit it to memory. It made her seem so small, made Donna’s anger seem so pointless. It truly was awesome.

“How am I breathing?” Donna asked, also in awe of the sight outside.

“The TARDIS is protecting us,” Danni replied without thinking, barely paying attention at all. The Doctor smiled down at her, a fond look she missed completely. That was the Danni he remembered. Always knowing more than she should.

“Who are you?” Donna asked the Doctor again. This time she was calmer as the realisation of how far from home she was hit her.

“I'm the Doctor, and she's Danni,” the Doctor introduced quietly. “You?”

“Donna.”

He looked her up and down. “Human?” he enquired.

“Yeah,” she replied before turning to him, a suspicious look on her face. “Is that optional?”

“Well, it is for me.”

Donna glanced around at them, casting her gaze up and down the two individuals. She tried to be surprised, but suddenly nothing seemed like it could be too far-fetched. “You're an alien.”

“Yeah,” he simply replied.

She took a moment to process everything, pondering on what to say next. Her Granddad had always said aliens existed, but even he would struggle to believe this. “It's freezing with these doors open,” she settled on and he slammed the doors shut then ran back over to the console.

“But I don't understand it and I understand everything!” he exclaimed, rambling as he tried to grab some thought of an idea that might explain what had happened. “This-- this can't happen! There is no way a Human Being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be...”

He grabbed a device out of a tool belt he seemed to have lying around – usually very convenient Danni had always thought as she’d watched the show – and held it up to look into Donna’s eyes.

“Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell,” he lowered the device and Danni could see Donna’s hands clenching at her side. While on the show Danni had always found the slap very funny, because he could ramble for an age if he wasn’t stopped, knowing that Rose had just left him made Danni step between them both.

“Doctor,” she stated firmly, catching his attention with a pointed look. If he wasn’t careful he was going to get himself slapped. “Maybe we should take her to her wedding,” she reminded him pointedly. “She’s in her dress. Examining her when she’s stressed isn’t going to give any proper results.”

She blinked, surprised by how the reasoning had just rolled of her tongue. Maybe she’d picked up more off the television than she had realised. And they said that television wasn’t educational.

The Doctor, now broken from his ranting, took a look at Donna over Danni’s head. While part of him tensed at listening to her, he fought to push it away and nodded in agreement. “Fine,” he grumbled and Danni smiled at him as he turned to the console.

Danni turned back to Donna, who looked rather annoyed that she had stepped in. “Thank you,” she grumbled begrudgingly and Danni shrugged.

“I’m sure he means well,” she replied, after all she only had a TV show to go off for his motives. “You’ve just excited him.”

Donna gasped in indignation. “Is that why I’m here?” she exclaimed. “Have you- you kidnapped me to _breed_ with me?”

The Doctor shook his head. “Of course not,” he snapped. “I’ve got better things to do than kidnap some human and breed with it. Where is this wedding?”

“Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System,” Donna snapped out as she walked away from him around the console. How dare he not want to breed with her? He shouldn’t be turning his nose up at her. When Lance heard about…

Her angry thoughts tapered off as she spotted something on the railings. Danni watched her reach over to it and almost groaned; it was Rose's top, the one she left behind. Donna snatched it up and stormed over.

“I knew it. Acting all innocent,” she sneered accusingly, showing him the blouse, shaking it in her anger. “I'm not the first, am I? How many women have you abducted?”

Danni felt her heart tighten slightly as he looked up at the garment with a confused look, before taking it in and his face fell. He was so hurt. “That's my friend's,” he replied forlornly.

“Where is she, then? Popped out for a spacewalk?” Donna asked sarcastically.

“She's gone.”

Donna just looked more enraged than comforted by his answer. “Gone where?” She was obviously scared at her situation, Danni couldn't blame her but her attitude towards him was starting to grate on her nerves. He had just lost Rose, after all, her brain should have calmed her down a little bit. She was never going to watch this episode the same again.

“I lost her,” he replied after a pause.

“Well, you can hurry up and lose me!”

The two women watched him for a moment, Donna expecting denials and Danni wondering yet again if it would be weird to give her dream a hug. Donna suddenly seemed to realise that there was something more in his answer than he was letting on.

“How do you mean, _'lost'_?” she asked, a little bit more sensitively. The Doctor stared at her then stormed towards her. Donna looked slightly scared as he snatched Rose's top off her then made his way towards the door.

“Right! Chiswick.”

_~0~0~0~_

Donna stormed out of the TARDIS as they landed, looking around at the tall, nondescript buildings. The Doctor followed behind her, and Danni slowly behind him. She looked upwards, it all seemed so real. She really should have woken up by now. Feeling the chill of the winter air, she rubbed her arms to try and gain some body heat. Would she remember all this detail when she woke up? Or would it be like the rest of her Doctor Who dreams, where she’d remember she had them but be frustrated by how little she remembered?

“I said 'Saint Mary's'. What sort of Martian are you?” she snapped, “Where's this?” The Doctor turned and faced the TARDIS, stroking it almost tenderly and ignored her completely.

“Something's wrong with her...” he replied, concerned for the spaceship. Donna rolled her eyes at him. “It's like she's... recalibrating!” Danni stepped out of the way as he ran into the TARDIS.

Danni didn’t follow him in, instead staying with Donna who seemed to realise that she’d walked out of a rather small blue wooden box. She backed away slightly, staring up at the TARDIS in shock.

“It's alright, you know? She’s supposed to be like that.” Danni told her gently, but Donna just shot her a look of disbelief and began pacing around the TARDIS. She reached out, touching the wooden walls as if she didn't believe it was there.

“Donna? You've really gotta think. Is there anything that might've caused this?” the Doctor called from inside. “Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off in case you're dangerous. I mean, have you... have you seen lights in the sky? Or... did you touch something? Something-- something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal or... who're you getting married to?” Donna chucked her hands over her mouth in horror at what she had just seen. Danni stepped closer to her but she just turned and ran the other way.

“Donna! Wait!” Danni cried and began chasing her. She knew the Doctor would catch up in a moment, but this was a dream and not the actual episode. If she didn’t follow Donna would that mean that she’d disappear and the whole scenario would change? Or would she just jump to a point where they were together again? She’d never really had much control over her dreams in the past.

But if she was going to lose one, she definitely didn’t want it to be the Doctor. She turned her head, slowing down but the Doctor came running out of the TARDIS and she smiled in relief. Oh good. He was the best part of any dream.

He fell by Donna’s side, barely having to walk fast to keep up with her. She only spared him a glance. “Leave me alone. I just want to get married,” she pleaded.

“Come back to the TARDIS,” he suggested instead but she just hitched her dress up slightly so she could walk faster.

“No way. That box is too...” she paused for a moment to find the right word to describe the impossible box she’d stepped out of. “ _Weird._ ”

“She’s just bigger on the inside, that’s all,” Danni tried to reassure her but Donna shot her a look.

“Oh! That's all?” she retorted sarcastically. She continued on but checked her watch, tears appearing her eyes. “Ten past three. I'm gonna miss it.”

“Can’t you phone them? Tell them where you are?” the Doctor asked.

“How do I do that?” she asked, distraught.

“Haven't you got a mobile?”

Donna came to a stop, turning to him with an angry look on her face. “I'm in my wedding dress,” she explained sharply. “It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at Chez Allison, the one thing I forgot to say is ‘ _give me pockets!’_ ”

The Doctor nodded to himself. “... This man you're marrying, what's his name?”

The anger immediately fell from her face. “Lance,” Donna replied dreamily.

“Good luck Lance,” he replied and Donna glared at him, almost shaking with rage as she pointed at him.

“Oi!” she exclaimed. “No stupid Martian is gonna stop me from getting married.” She hitched her skirt up. “To hell with you!”

She turned and ran off, the Doctor sighing heavily in resignation. “I'm-- I'm not... I'm not... I'm not from Mars,” he muttered to himself. Why couldn’t he have a random bride who took to the whole ‘time travelling box and alien’ thing a lot smoother? Like Danni. She wasn’t complaining at all about it.

The thought had him turning to her, suddenly concerned by just _how_ easy-going she was being about the whole thing. If this really was her first time in this universe she should have been much more upset about it. Was she in shock? He needed to remember to take better care of her now.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, concerned.

She shrugged. “I'm just getting a bit worried. I thought I'd've woken up by now,” she confessed. There seemed no point in lying to him, after all. He was her subconscious, he probably knew that anyway. It was nice, though, to see the Tenth Doctor looking at her with concern on his face.

“Woken up?” he asked, confused.

“You know? Cause I'm unconscious? This is all a dream,” she replied. He blinked for a moment, as if realising something before his look turned distinctly apologetic. That look on the Doctor’s face that would appear when he had to tell someone that something terrible had happened.

A cold rush went over her. The fact that, so far, everything was going just like the episode hadn’t bothered her but now that he wasn’t running after Donna she realised just how strange that was. “What’s going on?” she asked him.

Where did he start with that?

“Danni, I’m sorry…” he started because why did it have to be him? Why did _he_ have to break the news to her? Didn’t he have enough on his plate, what with Rose, and now Donna and…

He jolted as his brain finally caught up with what was happening around them. The reason that he’d even been thinking of Danni was because of Donna. He jolted, turning around. “Donna!” he exclaimed, taking off after her and leaving Danni to stare.

She could feel herself starting to panic, and it had nothing to do with what was going on around her. This was turning into a bad dream. She didn’t want it to. “No, wait!” she cried as she ran after him. “Doctor! Please! Why are you sorry?!”

“Why do they always run off?” he snapped as they headed onto the high-street.

“Do you blame her?” Danni replied, panting in a way none of the companions ever seemed to do when meeting the Doctor. “No one would appreciate being zapped somewhere they didn’t know without warning.”

There was that look again. Almost pitying and she really didn’t like it. Luckily, he spotted Donna and rushed off before she could question it further. She wasn’t hard to miss, stood in the street in a wedding dress while everyone around them was bundled up against the cold. She was trying to call down a taxi but nothing was stopping.

“Why's his light on?” she exclaimed in annoyance as one drove past.

The Doctor immediately set off in a run neither women could keep up with. “There’s another one!” he cried but even though all three of them waved it down it just drove by.

“Oi!” Donna called after it before setting her sights on yet another taxi. Once again it didn’t stop for them.

“Do you have this effect on everyone?” the Doctor asked her as they took a moment to stop of the pavement. “Why aren't they stopping?”

“They think I'm in fancy dress,” she reasoned uncertainly. A taxi that drove past honked its horn and the driver inside made a drinking motion as he drove past.

“Stay off the scotch darlin'!” he called and Donna chucked her arms into the air.

“They think I'm drunk.”

“You're fooling no-one, mate!” A couple of young men in a blue car called out as they drove past.

“They think I'm in drag!” Donna exclaimed, hands out by her side, offended and a little hurt. The Doctor looked her up and down as if to check and Danni caught the look. Donna was already having a bad day, there was no need to add to it.

She smacked him on the arm. “Oi, rude,” she scolded and he grabbed where she’d hit him. He still grinned at her with that cheeky grin that she’d loved to see on the Tenth Doctor and, try as hard as she might, she couldn’t suppress the one that would appear on her face in return.

“Hold on, hold on,” he said, turning to the street and looking for the next taxi coming towards them. He put his fingers between his lips and whistled, much louder than a human possibly could and the two women had to cover their ears to protect them from the high-pitched noise. It worked, though, a taxi stopped in front of him. They all climbed in; Donna first, then the Doctor and then Danni.

“St Mary’s, in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road,” Donna told the driver quickly. “It's an emergency, I'm getting married! Just... hurry up!”

“You know it'll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today,” the driver replied, looking at the trio through his rear-view mirror.

“Oh, my God!” She turned to the Doctor. “Have you got any money?”

“Um... no. And you?” he replied.

She stared back for a moment before waving up and down herself. “Pockets!” she reminded him. They both turned to Danni, who just held her hands up in front of her.

“Hey, don't look at me, I'm just here for the ride,” she told them. The taxi skidded to a halt and a moment later the three were unceremoniously chucked out. The Doctor slammed the door shut as Donna made a rude gesture at the driver.

“And that goes double for your mother!” she yelled angrily as the taxi drove off. “I'll have him. I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas Spirit,” she ranted as the Doctor looked around in slight surprise.

“Is it Christmas?” he asked happily. He’d always liked Christmas. Danni had too, if he remembered correctly. It made sense that this was when she’d first landed.

“Well, duh. Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve,” Donna retorted. Danni frowned. That wasn’t right, though, was it?

She opened the flap on the vortex manipulator and saw the screen was completely blurry, like someone had broken a calculator. She had typed in Christmas Day. She was sure Donna had gotten married on Christmas Day, but maybe she hadn’t. Either way the screen didn’t look healthy.

“There's something wrong with this thing,” she stated.

“You have no idea,” the Doctor replied under his breath and she glared up at him, hand on her hip.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked angrily.

“You'll find out soon enough,” he replied vaguely and she poked him hard in the arm.

“No, you listen here Spaceman,” she started. “You will tell me right now what the hell is going on. You’ve been looking at me sadly since the moment I arrived and I know for a _fact_ you shouldn’t be. It’s freaking me out. Tell me what is going on!”

“I will,” he promised her. “But not yet. We have other things to worry about.”

He nodded towards Donna pointedly but that wasn’t good enough for her. “Oh no, now mister.”

He placed a hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her down. “Let's just get Donna home, then I'll explain. I promise,” he told her with a calming tone and she relaxed slightly, nodding.

“Alright. But you promised, and I expect you to tell me.” He nodded and made two crosses on his chest, one over each of his hearts and she couldn't help but grin at his cuteness. Donna suddenly hit him on the arm, much gentler than maybe she would have before.

“Phone box!” she told the, pointing at the ordinary phone box off one of the streets and they all rushed towards it. “We can reverse the charges!”

“How come you're getting married on Christmas Eve?” the Doctor asked, intrigued. Christmas was a time for families and domesticity on Earth, but it seemed a bit odd to be getting married when there was a holiday happening around them.

“Can't bear it. I hate Christmas. Honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine – lovely.”

The Doctor held the door open for Donna but stood in the way before Danni could get in as well. She frowned to herself, feeling rather left out all of a sudden. This was _her_ dream, right? She crossed her arms.

Donna picked up the receiver before turning back to the Doctor. “What's the operator? I've not done this in years. What do you dial? 100?” she asked, still panicking about making it on time. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the machine, setting it off with a quiet buzz.

“Just-- just call the direct,” he told her before pocketing it again.

“What did you do?” She demanded.

“Something,” he paused for a moment wondering if he should explain it to her. He decided against it. “Martian,” he settled on instead. “Now, phone. I'll get money!” He ran off and left Danni watching Donna try and ring someone at the wedding.

“Oh, answer the phone!” Donna exclaimed to herself before trying another number. Danni watched as she suddenly took a breath, ready to speak. “Mum, get off the phone and listen,” she told her mother’s voicemail. “I'm in--” she paused. She had no idea. She turned to Danni, who also shrugged. She was a Northern girl, she’d never really even been to London before. She was no use.

Donna turned back to the phone, still panicking. “Oh, my God-- I dunno where I am!” she exclaimed. “It's... it's a street. And there's WH Smith... but it's definitely Earth,” she assured her mother’s answering machine. Danni couldn’t help but giggle slightly at the words. Donna shot her a dirty look as she slammed the receiver down.

“Bloody use you are,” she snapped before she stepped out into the street again. She looked around, looking for her best bet, before approaching a woman with a few shopping bags.

“Excuse me... I'm begging you,” she said almost breathlessly. “I'm getting married, I really am and I'm late and I just need to borrow a tenner and I'll pay you back I promise and it's Christmas.”

The woman smiled and nodded, handing her a note and Donna could have hugged her. Danni glanced down at the Doctor, who was still waiting impatiently for the ATM machine. She couldn’t let Donna go. She’d just get caught in the taxi with the Santa robot.

“Look, just wait for the Doctor,” she said to try and convince her to stay. “He'll be back in a sec with money.”

Donna ignored her and, hand full of money, called the first taxi that drove past down. Danni quickly glanced into the front seat and saw the Santa robot and grabbed Donna’s arm.

“Look, Donna, just look in...” she started but Donna pushed her off and onto the floor.

“I don’t have time to play around,” she snapped. “If you wanna follow him, fine, but I’m going to _my_ wedding.”

“Will you just look?” Danni tried again as she scrambled up but Donna opened the back door, climbing in. Danni turned back to the Doctor, who was finally finishing up. “ _Doctor!”_

The Doctor looked over at them and his eyes widened. “ _Donna!”_ he exclaimed but the taxi just drove off. He rushed over to Danni’s side and she tapped his arm.

“It's worse than you think.” She told him, pointing at the Santa's playing trumpets behind them. He watched as they move to hold the trumpets as if they were weapons. “There was one driving the taxi Donna got in. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

She reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointing not at the robots but at the cash machine he’d been using. Money started spewing out and she grinned up at him as people starting running to grab the flowing cash.

“Just point and think, right?” she recalled cheekily.

“Are you sure you’ve not been here before?” he asked in return and shook her head.

“Never,” she promised. With another shared grin, they turned and headed back to the TARDIS while they still had the chance. This was more like it. The Doctor and Danni running away from bad guys. _This_ was what her dreams were normally about.


	2. The Murderous Christmas Decorations

When Danni watched the Doctor drive the TARDIS, especially Ten who always seemed a little more aggressive, it had always been rather funny. He would run about and hit things, a serious grimace on his face as he attempted to pull the TARDIS under control. She always had a little giggle when she’d seen it on television. However, for some reason, in this dream it just made her wince.

“Maybe that's why she won't behave,” she suggested as he spun a crank wheel around rapidly. “I wouldn't like being hit by a mallet either.”

He pointed behind him to where she was standing, holding onto the railings, but he didn’t look at her. “You're not ganging up on me again,” he snapped and she frowned. _Again?_ “We just need to... Ah ha!” He tied a piece a string around what appeared to be a random control then stumbled over to the door with the string between his teeth. He opened both the doors and used his gangly limbs to keep himself in place.

If it had been real life, Danni would have held onto the railing for dear life, cursing at his recklessness. As it was, a dream was just a dream and so she rolled her eyes before letting go. She stumbled towards him. She took hold of the left door, grateful that it seemed to hold in place as she watched the motorway outside speed by.

Outside was the taxi that had caught Donna, and inside the bride looked rather bewildered and terrified at everything was going on. “Open the door!” the Doctor yelled at her over the roaring noise of the cars driving behind and in front of the TARDIS.

“ _Do you what?_ ” Donna replied through the window. Danni had to lean forward to actually hear her over the noise, so it was no wonder Donna couldn’t hear the Doctor either.

“Open the door!”

“ _I can't, it's locked_!” Donna shouted back. The Doctor reached into his top pocket, trying to keep his balance while pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He held it out and pointed it at the door, unlocking it. Donna immediately pushed the window down.

“Santa's a robot,” she shouted, sounding incredibly annoyed as she assumed that neither of them had noticed.

“Donna, open the door,” he told her again.

“What for?”

“You've got to jump!” he told her. She looked back at him, absolutely mortified.

“I'm not bleedin' flip jumping, I'm supposed to be getting married!” she exclaimed shrilly just as the driver decided to pull away from the TARDIS. The black cab spewed black smoke from the exhaust as it overtook the next couple of cars, the driver pushing it to its limits.

“Hold on!” the Doctor shouted at Danni before he pulled on the string, causing Danni to yell in surprise as the console seemed to explode in random places. She wasn’t sure what he’d done – although he never really seemed to know what he was doing – but the TARDIS evidently didn’t like it.

She then screamed again as the TARDIS bounced off the top of a car and she slipped on the metal floor, her legs heading straight out the door while she held on for her life. She turned her head, looking out to where she’d almost fallen out. How the _hell_ did the companions put up with this?! She was less cut out for this life than she thought.

Well, at least she wouldn’t die. She always woke up just before that point. Very luckily at this point.

The TARDIS righted herself and she tumbled back in, slamming against the wooden door. The wind was knocked out of her briefly but she wasn’t hurt as she turned around. The Doctor was looking at her, concern written on his face yet again.

“Are you alright?!” he asked her and she nodded,

“I’m fine!” she promised, although she appreciated the attention all the same. At least _that_ part was playing out like her normal dreams. “Can’t get hurt, can I?”

His brows furrowed for a moment as they swerved around another car. “Danni, you know you’re not dreaming, don’t you?” he called over the rush.

She shook her head. Of course she was dreaming. That is _such_ a dream thing to say. Honestly, what was the point in lying?

“I thought Danielle Fielding knew everything!” he shouted over the noise, a little harshly in her opinion. Was that a subconscious fear of hers – that she really wasn’t that smart and people knew – or was that the dream trying to turn sour again?

She smirked back at him. She wasn’t going to let her own brain ruin the best dream she’d ever had. “Only about you, sweetie!”

The TARDIS caught up with the taxi again with two painful thuds against the road. They both lost their footing but were quick to get back up again. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the taxi again, this time trying to disable the robot instead of opening the door. It sparked but didn’t seem to be dropping speed at all.

“Listen to me! You've got to jump!” he insisted.

“I'm not jumping on a motorway,” Donna replied stubbornly.

“Donna, you _have_ to jump!” Danni cried out to her. “You know nothing good is going to happen if you stay in there!”

“She’s right!” the Doctor agreed, which contradicted what he’d just said. “Whatever that thing is, it needs you! And whatever it needs you for, it’s not good. Now _come on!”_

“I'm in my wedding dress!” she shrieked.

“Yes! You look lovely!” he told her, exasperated. “Come on!”

Donna finally opened the door, yelling out in surprise as the door flung open and the car veered off course for a moment. The Doctor held his arms open for her, but she looked down the road instead, watching it zoom past.

“I can't do it,” Donna finally said, scared.

“Trust me,” he implored in that firm tone that made everyone he ever met trust him. At that moment Danni would have jumped over at him as well.

Donna didn’t move, though. She just stared up at him, terrified. “Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?”

Danni watched the Doctor’s demeanour changed as Donna questioned him, watched him think back onto Rose. She understood Donna’s worries, but she hated to see the pain he was carrying.

She shifted on the spot, holding her hand out to the other red-head in support. “Yes, she did. With her entire life. And I do too,” she promised before grinning. “And she is not dead. She’s alive and she’s fine and she still trusts him. Now, jump!”

Donna hesitated a moment longer as thought on their words, then with a scream jumped out of the taxi. She easily made the gap, landing on both of them and sending them all sprawling on the floor.

The TARDIS shut the doors behind them and the Doctor scrambled up and towards the sparking console, leaving Donna and Danni to sort themselves out. Donna was panting from her adrenaline at what she’d just done.

Danni started laughing and Donna looked down at her. “What’s wrong with you?” she demanded.

Danni looked up at her. “Oh come on, admit it,” she replied. “You and him? You’re amazing!”

Donna glanced at the door, thinking on what she’d just done and straightened slightly. “Yeah, alright,” she agreed. “It wasn’t _that_ bad.”

The Doctor, on the other hand, didn’t say a word as he struggled with keeping the TARDIS under control. As it sparked and protested and the room starting filling up with smoke, he couldn’t help but be glad that, even at the start, Danni was having a good time.

_~0~0~0~_

Did she always dream in this much detail? Danni wasn’t sure what it was but something felt rather off about the way she chocked on the smoke that was billowing from the TARDIS console. It wasn’t the burning sensation that was making her uncomfortable, but rather the fact that she could feel it in the first place. It felt like real smoke. The heat felt like real heat. Remembering dreams had always been a mixed bag for her - sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t – but the dreams she did remember always were vivid. Maybe this was what it was like to dream them up.

They still hadn’t deviated from the episode, though. She stepped out of the TARDIS onto the rooftop just like the Doctor and Donna would do after she was saved from the taxi. The skyline of London didn’t look strange. The sky was blue behind white and grey clouds, the air was still rather cold. Then again, didn’t everything strange feel real in a dream? Maybe the sky being blue wasn’t right after all. She’d never know unless her subconscious told her so.

She felt like she was second guessing herself. Perhaps her best bet was just to let it run its course? Maybe the Christmas Spirit and her love for Doctor Who really _had_ influenced her this much. Perhaps she should think about not watching quite so much of it when she woke up again.

But as she watched Donna walk out of the TARDIS, looking around and realising she wasn’t at the church, she knew that wasn’t ever going to happen. These moments of vulnerability in the companions were some of the best. You got to see them as they really were, especially Donna who kept her abrasive attitude on the surface so you couldn’t see it. And then you saw them from within the Doctor… Well, those were her favourites. The Lonely God. She always just wanted to hug him and take it away.

As he put out the fire in the TARDIS, Donna checked her watch. Danni watched from the side line for a little bit longer before walking over.

“I’m sorry,” she told the bride. She could have told her that not marrying Lance would be the making of her, but she just couldn’t quite break it to her yet. No one wanted to hear that on their wedding day. And there was no way Donna would believe her about the giant spider before seeing it.

“Thanks,” Donna replied softly. Danni rubbed her arm out of comfort. Maybe she could find a way to warn the Doctor. Then again, that might change the episode. If she really was unconscious maybe she’d only wake up once she got to the end.

“The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying,” the Doctor commented as he closed the TARDIS doors and walked over to them. “We'd better give her a couple of hours.” He glanced down at Donna, who was still staring out across the city. “You all right?”

She shrugged. “Doesn't matter,” she replied, pretending that she didn’t care at all. Danni looked up at the Doctor.

“We missed it,” she explained gently and he looked down at his shoes, slightly ashamed that her big day had been messed up.

“Well, you can book another date...” he suggested after a small pause.

“Course we can,” Donna agreed without much feeling.

“Still got the honeymoon...” he continued, trying to find her a silver lining to the mess. He felt awful about it. He’d tried so hard to get her back, and she really had just been scared of what was happening.

“It's just a holiday now.”

“You’ve still got all the presents?” Danni offered her. Donna looked back out at the city, actually taking that into consideration. Danni smiled softly. She’d actually managed to cheer her up a little bit.

“Sorry,” the Doctor said sincerely.

“It's not your fault,” Donna told him and he looked down at her, slightly surprised.

“Oh! That's a change,” he said with a little laugh in his voice. There it was again. One of those little moments when Danni knew all he needed was someone to hold his hand, and she was stood on the wrong side of Donna to take it.

Donna looked up at the Doctor. “Wish you had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right,” she said like the idea had just come to her. The Doctor averted his gaze quickly.

“... Yeah, yeah,” he agreed vaguely but he just couldn’t let it go. “But even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline,” he rambled off before catching himself. “Apparently.”

Danni couldn’t help but giggle as Donna looked at him, not quite sure where the explanation had come from. She obviously didn’t quite believe he’d just plucked it from thin air, but then again time travel was a bit too much for her to believe existed at that moment.

So, instead of questioning him, she walked over to the edge of the building and sat down, dangling her feet over the edge. Danni sat next to her, her legs swinging slightly as they dangled over the edge. It was rare to get such a high view of a city and she’d only ever been to London a couple of times in her life. Even with the cranes dotting the skyline, it was pretty awesome to see.

The Doctor looked down at the pair of them. It was so strange. It was Danni’s first time with him but she was still behaving like he’d expect her to. She still had that same ‘passing through’ attitude that she always had. Like she wasn’t staying very long at all. She was also dressed much more appropriately for the season than Donna, so he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He hesitated for a moment, deciding who to sit next to but then sat down on the other side of Donna from Danni.

Donna pulled the jacket around her, shooting him a grateful smile before frowning. “God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat.”

He could have sighed in exasperation as Danni giggled. “He doesn’t change, you know?” the red-head commented happily. “Always skinny, with gangly limbs.”

He shot her a look and she pulled her tongue out at him in reply. He couldn’t help but grin. The teasing said that she approved of his actions, which was good. It was a shame that Donna couldn’t take a nice gesture as it was. Poor Lance was going to have a hell of a time with her once they were married.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, remembering himself. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gold ring that he’d grabbed on his way out of the TARDIS. “And you'd better put this on.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Oh, do you have to rub it in?”

“Those creatures can trace you,” he explained. “This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden.” He took hold of her hand and slipped the gold band onto her finger. “With this ring, I thee bio-damp,” he said with a pop on the 'p'.

“For better or for worse,” she replied cynically before leaning back on her hands. “So, come on then. Robot Santas - what are they for?”

“Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in.”

Danni leant forward. “He met them last Christmas,” she added. “They were just as friendly then as well.”

“Why, what happened then?” Donna asked, looking between the two. She’d noticed the confused look the Doctor had shot Danni, but she hadn’t been expecting the one he shot her.

“Great big spaceship? Hovering over London?” he prompted but she just looked back, oblivious. “You didn't notice?”

“I had a bit of a hangover,” she dismissed like it didn’t matter much. He just stared, incredulous, before deciding it wasn’t worth his time to press further. She still thought he was a Martian, after all.

He looked back out over the city and found his eyes drawn to one particular part. He hadn’t been seeking it out, but he smiled as he looked over it. “I spent Christmas Day just over there,” he told her with a little nod so she knew where to look. “The Powell Estate. With this...” He trailed off as he tried to form the words to describe what Rose and her family had been to him. Even Jackie, towards the end, had accepted him into her home despite not particularly being fond of him.

“Family,” he settled on. “My friend, she had this family. Well, they were...” He paused as he thought about them all; about Rose and Jackie and Mickey. They’d been his family too, really. The first one he’d had since the Time War. Well, apart from… He glanced at Danni out of the corner of her eye. Not yet, though, he guessed. “Still...” he said, forcing himself into the present. “Gone now.”

“But very much not forgotten,” Danni added onto the end. He looked at her and saw the sympathy on her face. For a moment he felt angry at it, then confused because how could she have possibly known about Rose? It wasn’t the first time she’d mentioned the other woman. She was proving everything he’d thought up to this point wrong. She always did that.

But then he was suddenly glad that she was there so he turned back to look out at the skyline. He should have said a better goodbye to Rose. He was never going to see her again.

“Your friend... who was she?” Donna asked gently, trying to get him to open up.

“Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you?” he replied instead and the moment was over. Danni sighed sadly as he looked Donna over. “And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know...” He sighed. “Maybe it was something to do with you,” he continued, pulling out his screwdriver and pointing it at Danni. He gave her a quick scan, but it was just the same old stuff.

“Don’t go blaming me,” Danni retorted, feeling a little defensive. Something in his words felt like he was accusing her rather than musing out loud. “I’m just here for the ride.”

“Sounds about right,” he murmured before turning back to Donna. “What’s your job?”

“I'm a secretary,” Donna replied, unsure how it was relevant.

“It's weird, I mean – you're not special,” Danni made a noise in protest at this, but he ignored her, “you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important...”

“Hang on a minute,” Danni interrupted. “Just because _you_ can’t work out what’s going on doesn’t mean that you get to just insult her. There’s no one in this universe who isn’t important. In fact,” she nodded towards Donna, “she might just be the most important woman in the universe and you’re buzzing your screwdriver in her face.” She crossed her arms. “I never did like this part,” she murmured to herself.

He lowered the screwdriver, trying to work out what she even meant by that. She had been saying strange things since she’d appeared, and that was saying something because she had always been a bit cryptic with her comments.

But she wasn’t offering anything else, and if he had to hear _that_ word one more time…

“What kind of secretary?” he asked Donna, moving on for now. Perhaps after they sorted out whatever mess Donna had found herself in.

“I'm at H. C. Clements,” she replied. He had no idea who they were, but she sounded like he should. A smile spread on her face. “It's where I met Lance. I was temping. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double-glazing firm,” she explained. “Well, I thought ‘ _I'm never gonna fit in here_ ’. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me! But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him – one cup of coffee. That was it.”

“When was this?”

“Six months ago.”

He frowned slightly. “Bit quick, to get married...”

“Well... he insisted,” she replied quickly with a shrug of her shoulders. Danni snorted, remembering the scene where Donna continuously asked him to marry her. If only she knew…

The Doctor and Donna both shot her a bewildered look but she just shrugged, leaning back on her hands. Poor Donna. She deserved so much better than she got. And not just with Lance.

“And he nagged... and he nagged me...” Donna continued anyway. “And he just wore me down and then finally, I just gave in.”

Well, it was rather quick, but it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. Humans had such short lifespans that six months wasn’t exactly something to be sniffed at. “What does H.C. Clements do?”

“Oh, security systems, you know... entry codes, ID cards – that sort of thing.  If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths',” she replied.

“Keys...” he muttered to himself, looking past the landscape as he mused over the company. That seemed important, but nothing in his big brain could put a finger on. It still felt like he was missing something.

Donna sighed. “Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be so shaming.” She paused for a moment before turning to the Doctor. “You can do the explaining, Martian-boy.”

“He's not from Mars,” Danni interjected and even though Donna nodded, both of them knew that it didn't matter to her. The Doctor stood up and helped her up as Danni sighed, annoyed they had to stand up when she was just getting comfy. He helped her up too before chucking an arm around her shoulders and squeezing tightly.

She grinned up at him as they headed towards the stairs that led down from the roof. At least now he had some money to get them a taxi. It was just a shame that they couldn’t take the TARDIS.

“Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken,” Donna groaned.

“I’m sure they’re more worried about what happened to you,” Danni told her. “It’s just a party, I wouldn’t waste another thought on it.”

_~0~0~0~_

The strangest thing about the dream was the way time seemed to pass. No matter how many times she reminded herself that of course it would seem to go slower while she was living it, Danni was sure that dream time went a lot faster than real time. The ride over to the reception was as long as a car journey would have been, and the small talk they all shared in between silence also went as fast, or as slow, as it should have done. Didn’t you just poof from one place to another in dreams? Again, if she remembered when Claire woke her up, Danni was going to have a rather in depth look into this kind of thing.

The hotel the reception was at seemed rather nice, and Donna took a moment to ready herself before they headed in. What they all noticed first, though, was _Merry Christmas Everyone_ by Slade blaring out of the large function room. People were dancing, and drinking, including Lance who seemed to be getting rather close to one of Donna’s friends.

Donna fell to a stop and one by one everyone in the room noticed that she’d walked in. Danni grimaced to herself slightly. It was such a horrid thing to do. They didn’t even know where she was, why the hell weren’t they looking for her? Especially her parents. Danni knew that if she’d disappeared, her mum and dad would never stop looking.

Eventually even Lance seemed to notice his bride-to-be had appeared and the music trailed off in a loud screech. Donna looked absolutely livid and folded her arms in front of her chest to make sure everyone knew that.

“You had the reception without me?” she asked them all angrily.

Lance took a step closer. “Donna... what happened to ya?” he asked. He sounded very convincing, which just made everything that was about to happen so much worse. Danni looked up at the Doctor, who looked decidedly uncomfortable about what they’d walked in on. Should she tell him? Would it _actually_ mess up her dream and stop her waking up, or was she just making up excuses? She knew that messing with time was a dangerous business, this Doctor especially had taught her that. But it was just a dream, wasn’t it?

“You had the reception without me?” Donna demanded again. At least a couple of people seemed to look a little sheepish.

Of course, this was the moment the Doctor decided to introduce himself. “Hello! I'm the Doctor.”

Donna turned to him, angry and with wide eyes. “ _They had the reception without me._ ”

“Yes, I gathered.”

“Well, it was all paid for – why not?” the blonde Lance had been dancing with retorted.

“Thank you, Nerys,” Donna bit out.

“Ahh, so that's Nerys,” Danni whispered to the Doctor, who nodded. He had wondered if he’d ever get to see the woman he was supposedly working with.

Donna’s mother walked forward, striding like she owned the spot. “Well, what were we supposed to do?” she demanded like she was telling Donna off.

Danni stepped forward. Oh, Donna’s mother had _always_ angered her. “You’re supposed to look for your daughter,” she retorted. “Not worry about a bloody party.”

The woman looked positively offended. Good. She offended Danni. She might not be able to stop what was going to happen to Donna, but she could finally give this woman a piece of her mind. _This_ was what dreams were for.

“And who the hell are you?”

“I’m one of the two people who actually give a shit about your daughter, it would seem,” Danni snapped back. “Why the hell weren’t _you_ out looking for her? She leaves you a strange message on your voicemail and your response is to just dance the night away.”

Sylvia’s nostrils flared as she took in an angry breath. “How dare you...”

“No, _how dare you_ ,” Danni interrupted. “What kind of mother does that?! You should be bloody ashamed of yourself! Do you not care about her at all?!”

To her side, Donna suddenly started crying and the impending argument was forgotten and everyone was fawning over the bride. Lance pulled her in for a hug and everyone started clapping at the show of affection. Danni stepped back towards the Doctor.

“Was that _really_ necessary?” he asked her quietly.

“Yes,” Danni replied shortly. “She needs to learn to be a better mother to her daughter.”

As Donna sobbed into Lance’s shoulder, she slowly turned him around until she met the Doctor’s eye. She then grinned and winked, showing that she was very much alright.

The Doctor really tried not to smirk but Danni didn’t hide it at all. “Because she’s the most important woman in the universe,” Danni continued lowly. “Maybe one day she’ll see it.”

_~0~0~0~_

Now that everyone had stopped bombarding her with questions, Donna had got stuck into the party atmosphere. It was nice to see her having a good time, dancing with her friends and family. For a woman who didn’t like Christmas she really could dance to the music of the season.

It looked like a lot of fun, but Danni didn’t want to leave the Doctor’s side in case he disappeared in a poof of dream smoke and she forgot that he ever existed. So she grabbed herself a lemonade – with a straw, naturally – and spun around on one of the barstools next to him.

He was looking out at the dance floor, specially watching Donna just in case something happened and when they met eyes she shot him a cheeky smirk. He couldn’t help but reply with his own but turned away so she didn’t think it was because he was rather happy that she was having a good time.

He looked down at Danni, instead, and saw her bopping her head along with the music as she sipped her drink through her straw.

“Why don’t you go dance?” he asked her over the music.

She shook her head. “Nah, I wanna watch you be all smart,” she replied, boosting his ego a little bit. She leant forward slightly so she could nod at a man further down the bar. “That man there has a mobile phone you could borrow if you want to check up on H. C. Clements.”

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she’d just guessed what he wanted to do or if she’d already known the next part of this particular adventure. In the future she would just chuck that stupid word at him. Maybe now she’d actually give him a proper answer.

“How is it you always know what I'm about to do?” he asked. Danni’s brows furrowed. Even in a dream it felt a bit mean to flaunt the fact his life was a TV show in front of his face. She didn’t want to drive him away and, again, lose him in a poof a dream smoke.

“My dream ain’t it?” she offered in reply. “Go on. We haven’t got all day.”

Well, it wasn’t that blasted word, but it was still no better than he normally got from her. It was with a bit of a pout he walked over to the man and asked to borrow his phone. Rather generously he agreed, and the Doctor returned to her side with the old-fashioned flip phone. Danni reached down to feel her pocket. Her Samsung was a much better phone, but she didn’t seem to have it on her. Damn. A dream phone might have been useful.

He turned his back to the man, pulling out his ‘I’m Clever’ glasses and Danni smiled in delight. Oh, he _was_ being all clever. She loved Ten in a pair of glasses. You just knew something good was going to happen.

He opened the internet – again, an old fashioned WAP browser – and searched for H. C. Clements. Then, with a little discrete buzz of the sonic, he found the results he was actually looking for.

_H. C. Clements. Sole Prop. Torchwood._

He flipped the phone closed as his anger burnt at the mere thought of Torchwood. He was on his own because of them. Rose was lost forever because of them.

Well, not _exactly_ alone. Danni had stopped her bopping but she still looked rather happy. That was good. At least someone was. He returned the phone with a quick ‘thanks’, then took perch next to her again. He tried to keep his mind off Rose, which to be honest this whole Donna and Danni situation had been rather useful for so far, but now it was all he could think about. He even saw a man dip a blonde while dancing and he was reminded of his friend yet again.

“She’s okay,” Danni said softly and he looked down at her. She was looking at him with those kind eyes that used to _really_ get on his nerves. Now he was just glad they were there at all. “She’s not dead. She’s fighting and she’s living, and she knew what you were going to say.”

That felt like a punch to the gut for him. Those words that he couldn’t get out on that beach…

He quickly turned away, looking anywhere but at her so she couldn’t see his guilt. His gaze fell on a cameraman who was set up filming the reception. An idea quickly sprung to him and, without even asking, he grabbed Danni’s hand and dragged her over to the man.

Danni didn’t mind. Why would she?

“Were you at the church?” the Doctor asked and the man nodded. Before the Doctor could ask to see the footage, he was changing the video inside the camera.

“I taped the whole thing,” he explained. “They've all had a look. They said ' _sell it to You've Been Framed_ '. I said ' _more like the News_ '. Here we are...” He hit the play button and the picture zoomed into a blissful looking Donna walking down the aisle, before she suddenly disintegrated into golden particles, screaming.

The Doctor shook his head. He knew what he saw, but it couldn’t actually be true. “Can't be! Play it again,” he commanded.

The cameraman rewound the video. “Clever, mind!” he continued. “Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping.”

As it played the Doctor leant in closer, trying to see if he could see if it was something else. “But that looks like...” he paused. Nothing else fit. “Huon Particles!”

“What's that?” the cameraman asked.

“That's impossible,” the Doctor replied, taking off his glasses. “That's... ancient!” He turned to look at the other man. “Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that...”

He trailed off, turning to look at Donna in horror. It meant that…

Danni grabbed his hands, pulling his attention to her. He looked suddenly terrified, and she knew exactly why. And while she didn’t want to let him out of her sight, she also knew what came next.

“I’ve got Donna,” she told him firmly. “Go check the windows.”

With a nod he agreed and he ran off as Danni made her way through the dancing guests. She tried to be as polite as possible, but she also just nudged them out of the way. After she woke up they wouldn't even exist anymore.

“Donna, Do – _excuse me_ – Donna!” she called out and the bride turned her head towards her. She smiled, now happy that she was back with her fiancé.

“Danni, you should have some of the wine...” Donna started but Danni reached out, placing a hand on her arm.

“Donna, I need you to stop dancing,” she said firmly. “The bio-damper isn’t working. There’s Santas outside.”

Her eyes widened and she stopped dancing. “Wait, what?” she asked. “He said I was safe!”

“I know, he thought you were,” she replied. “Don’t panic, but we need to get everyone out.”

Donna nodded but Lance frowned. “What the hell is she on about?” he demanded of Donna, but Danni rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, we don’t have time for being an idiot,” she retorted. She looked over at the Doctor, who was running back into the room. “Come on, we need to get over there.”

Danni grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the Doctor, who was heading straight towards them.

“Out the back door!” he exclaimed. Danni let go of Donna’s hand and watched the pair run out together. Bloody tall people; how was she supposed to keep up with them?

She didn’t particularly want to let the Doctor leave her sight, but this was a dream, wasn’t it? If she woke up then she would have a brilliant story to tell, and if she didn’t and the episode continued on its intended course then she would see them both in a moment anyway. The curious side of her just wanted to test the rules a little.

She headed over to the large Christmas tree where a few of the kids were playing. The episode said that this tree was about to come to life and she didn’t exactly want the children to get hurt. She approached them then bent at the waist so she could meet their eyelines.

“Hey, there’s cake over there,” she told them all enticingly. “What are you doing over here?”

The children looked more than pleased at this development and rushed off and away from the tree. Danni stood up straight just in time for the Doctor and Donna to come running back into the room, just as she had expected. In fact, her presence didn’t seem to be affecting the episode at all.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Surely she would have _some_ impact, right? Then again, she’d seen enough time travel movies to know that, if she wanted to live the episode, she had to keep everything going as smoothly as possible. Nothing worse than blowing a hole in the timeline and being left with nothing at all.

The Doctor and Donna were quick to reappear, and Danni let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Obviously she wanted them both there. And, obviously, there was nothing better than watching the Doctor work. Her imagination could really conjure up an atmosphere.

She watched the Doctor and Donna look around, then the Doctor’s gaze fell on her. She gave him a little wave and a smile. He was going to get it in a second, but for now she just enjoyed him looking at her. She felt her cheeks flush with her happiness. Was David Tennant this pretty in real life?

Danielle Fielding; always asking the important questions.

The Doctor suddenly looked horrified, saying something to Donna. “Christmas trees,” Danni muttered along with him. “They kill.”

The Time Lord and the bride suddenly ran into the dancing crowd, shouting at them all at the top of their voices. “Get away from the trees!”

“Lance! Lance!” Donna shouted angrily as she ushered some of the guests away from the large tree that sat on the edge of the dance floor. “Tell them!”

They managed to get the guests into a group but none of them would leave the dance floor, no matter what the Doctor or Donna said.

“Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot!” Donna’s mum declared. “What's a Christmas tree gonna...” She trailed off as the tree came to life behind the trio. “Oh!” She smiled in amusement as the baubles began to float off the tree and danced around in the air.

The Doctor reached forward, pulling Danni closer to him and further away from the tree. He’d seen this before, and so had Danni. Poor Jackie Tyler had almost been decapitated by a tree she’d brought into her home, and that was much smaller than the one they were stood against.

The Doctor and Danni both eyed the decorations distrustfully as they moved overhead of the crowd in formation. Even Donna didn’t really seem to know what to think about it. Then, with almost no warning, the first bauble slammed into the floor and exploded. Chaos erupted as everyone scattered, screaming as they were attacked.

Danni didn’t really know why she did it. After all, Donna wasn’t even real and the Doctor was going to save the day in just a moment. Still, she acted on instinct, grabbing Donna’s hand and dragging her over to one of the tables that had been overturned in the chaos.

“Stay here,” she commanded. Donna just nodded, too scared to argue, but aware enough to grab Lance and drag him under the table with her as he ran past.

Danni dodged through all the panicking people and headed to the DJ table where the Doctor had hidden himself. She tumbled into him as another explosion shook the building but, as he wasn’t completely stable himself, they both ended up slamming into each other on the floor.

He barely noticed, his eyes looking around for a solution to their current crisis. That was just like Ten, though, wasn’t it? Too caught up being clever to worry about things like apologising.

He peeked over the top of the table and Danni joined him. The Santas were all lined up, musical instruments at the ready to attack. The Doctor grinned, reaching into his jacket pocket.

Danni grinned, stealing the sonic screwdriver straight from his hand before he could stand up. “No, you don’t,” she muttered before standing up. “Oi!” she cried, pulling the robots’ attention. “Santa! Look at me! I’m stood here by a load of speakers. Do you know what that means?” She held up the sonic screwdriver, giving them a wave and a cheeky smile. She borrowed that from the Master, except she wasn’t stealing the TARDIS, just the Doctor’s moment. “ _Bye-bye!”_

She shoved the sonic screwdriver into the hole just as she had seen him do a hundred times on the television and set it off – point and think. A loud, high-pitched, horrific noise came out of every speaker as the sound shook the floors and the walls. Danni pressed her free hand against one ear and bent her neck to try and press her ear against her shoulder to block the noise. The Santas began to shake and fall apart as the sonic vibrations ran through their mechanisms, and they landed on a heap on the floor.

She held the sonic screwdriver out to the Doctor. “I always wanted to do that,” she confessed.

“How did you know to do that?” he asked her.

She did think about telling him that she’d seen him do it. She then decided that it was her dream and she could see whatever she liked. “Because I’m a genius, Spaceman,” she retorted. “Come on!”

They both ran over to the pile of Santa parts. The Doctor immediately went through the robes to find the remote control whereas Danni grabbed him a head. She chucked it at him and he caught it like he was expecting her to do so.

“Look at that.” The Doctor turned around, showing Donna the control in his hand. “Remote control for the decorations.” He turned back to the head, looking into the broken casing where a light was beeping. “But there's a second remote control for the robots.” He flipped it over and examined the bottom. “They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession.”

“Never mind all that, you're a doctor - people have been hurt,” Donna said, concerned about everyone around them. Once again showing that she really had a heart of gold behind her contrary attitude.

“Nah, they wanted you alive, look.” The Doctor picked up a bauble and chucked it at Donna, who caught it. “They're not active now.”

“All I'm saying - you could help,” she insisted.

“Gotta think of the bigger picture...” he replied as he held the head to his ear.

“You know, she does have a point,” Danni added.

In response the Doctor jumped to his feet. “There's still a signal!” He ran out of the room and Danni offered Donna a shrug before following him. Donna was going to follow in a moment, she wanted to keep up with the Doctor. At a guess they were half way through the episode. She actually might dream of it all.

Did that mean she was really badly injured in the real world?

Nah.

The Doctor came to a stop on the gravel outside the reception, putting his sonic screwdriver to the head. “Why do you think they’re going after Donna?” Danni asked him to try and prod him along. Perhaps if she sped up the episode she could go to the next and meet Martha.

Donna appeared quickly on the other side of him as he sonicked the head. “There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force,” he told them, effectively admitting that he didn’t have any idea at all.

“But why is it me? What have I done?” Donna asked.

“If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Oh!” He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of the head as he followed the signal until he was pointing it up in the air. “It's up there. Something in the sky.”

Danni nodded, not looking into the air and not looking surprised. His sonic continued to follow the signal until he started to shake his head. “No, no, no, no, no,” he exclaimed, running off to the side. As Donna pulled up her skirt to follow Danni placed a hand on her arm.

“Give him a sec,” she instructed.

“Shouldn’t we follow him?” Donna asked her. Danni shook her head.

“Look, there’s an awful lot of running. Whenever you can take a break, do.”

Lance came storming out of the building as Donna just looked at Danni, bewildered. “Donna! What the hell is going on?”

“Just go back inside, Lance,” Donna instructed firmly. “It’s safer.”

“Safer? What do you mean ‘safer’? What’s going on? Who are these people?!”

Danni rolled her eyes. He was _such_ an arse. “We’re saving Donna, that’s who we are! I don’t see _you_ doing that!”

He looked offended but she didn’t really care. The Doctor came back from around the corner just as an ambulance pulled up to help the people inside. “I've lost the signal!” he cried. He came to a stop in front of the pair, completely ignoring Lance. “Donna, we've got to get to your office, H.C. Clements. I think that's where it all started.” He turned to Lance. “Lance - is it Lance? - Can you give us a lift?” He ran off in the direction he thought the car was without waiting for an answer. Danni turned to Lance.

“Well, come on then,” she snapped, exasperated. She smiled at Donna. “Told ya; a _lot_ of running.” She turned and followed the Doctor.

 


	3. The Unfortunate Truth

Danni had to wonder if being a full-time companion was just as infuriating as being with the Doctor now was. The running was just out of control, and he didn’t seem to want to wait for anyone as he jumped out of the passenger’s seat of the car and ran towards H.C. Clements. She and Donna were quick out of the car after him, with Lance bringing up the rear.

Danni was also rather impressed with Donna who, despite still being in full bridal gear, was keeping up with the Doctor’s experienced running. She’d never noticed that in the episode. Perhaps she didn’t know the story as well as she thought she did.

“To you lot this might just be a locksmith’s,” he said as they ran through the courtyard and to the front door of the giant building. “But H.C. Clements was bought up twenty-three years ago by the Torchwood Institute.”

He dove towards the first computer desk he came to.

“Who are they?” Donna asked.

“They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf.” There was silence from the bride and he turned to look at her, again incredulous by her seeming lack of observation.

“There was a giant battle between Cybermen and Daleks over Canary Wharf,” Danni explained for him. “I wouldn’t worry about it. They’re dicks, that’s all you need to know.”

“You really didn’t notice?” the Doctor asked her, agreeing with Danni’s sentiments completely.

“Oh, I was in Spain,” she offered as an explanation. She remembered something being mentioned. Just more stupid people making up stories. Although, saying that, she was being chased by robot Santas. Perhaps she had missed something rather large.

“They had Cybermen in Spain,” the Doctor countered.

“Scuba diving,” she clarified. No matter. If it was important she would have seen it by now.

The Doctor shared a look with Danni. There were so many questions and not all of them were to do with Donna. How did Danni even know about the Battle if she hadn’t been there?

He stuck with what he was working on, though, pushing the other questions to the back of his mind to keep ticking away. “That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it.” He ran over to another computer to inspect it, pushing past Lance rather unnecessarily. “Torchwood was destroyed, but H.C. Clements stayed in business.”

Danni and Donna trailed after him, trying to see what he was doing. Danni was rather interested to see what her brain filled in the gaps with. But, as he always seemed to be, he moved too fast for her to see.

“I think... someone else came in and took over,” he whacked the monitor as it wasn't cooperating, “the operation.”

“But what do they want with me?” she asked. The Doctor stopped what he was doing. That was the big question, wasn’t it? Torchwood was right in the middle of this mess, but Donna had been pulled quite literally into it.

Danni reached out, rubbing a hand on her arm. “The Doctor will work it out,” she promised, because she knew it was true. “But you’ve been dosed with Huon energy, which means that they want you for a reason.”

“What’s Huon energy?” Donna demanded.

“It shouldn’t even exist,” the Doctor replied. “Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened.” She just looked confused and he realised he needed to explain it a bit clearer.

He looked around, trying to find something that would explain it on a more basic level – like he would have done for Rose, but he pushed that thought away. He picked up a mug, deciding that would do. “Say... that's the TARDIS,” he started before looking around for something smaller, like a pencil. He picked it up and gave it a little wave. “And that's you. The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP you were pulled inside the TARDIS.” He chucked the pencil into the mug for effect.

“I'm a pencil inside a mug?” Donna asked, unsure about whether to be upset at being dosed up with something without her knowledge or upset because he’d compared her to a piece of stationary.

“Yes, you are,” he replied, spinning the pencil around. “4H. Sums you up.”

“Someone was giving you a little dose of energy every day, topping it up in your food, or drink,” Danni explained to the baffled woman. She shot Lance a look but continued without addressing him. “Which means that you’re the important part of this, not the TARDIS. You being pulled into her was just a coincidence.”

The Doctor had turned back to the computer, continuing his investigation. “Lance? What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?”

“I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager,” he replied defensively. The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver to the screen and Danni leant in closer. The website of the company appeared but quickly began switching through page after page. “Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?” Lance continued.

“Oh, keep up,” Danni snapped at him. “Someone is after Donna and it’s someone who works in this building. It’s not that difficult.”

The Doctor shot a quick look out of the corner of his eye at Lance. Someone would have had to top Donna up for her to be dosed high enough to pull her into the TARDIS. And, from what he’d learnt so far about Danni, if she didn’t like someone he needed to pay attention. She was friendly to everyone they met except for the people who he needed to be wary of.

He paused on one particular page as he found what he was looking for. “Look at this,” he commanded. He’d found what he was looking for, even though he hadn’t been sure about what he’d actually been looking for until it had caught his eye.

“It’s just the map of the building,” Donna retorted. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

He looked to Donna and Lance and they both looked perplexed at what they were being shown. He then glanced at Danni, who really didn’t seem particularly surprised, which mean that he was on the right track. He still wasn’t completely sure that he appreciated her cues, but he wasn’t sure if he had time to be pondering that.

“Come with me,” he told them all before sprinting off towards the lifts. Danni sighed in resignation. If she thought it would make any difference she would have had a word about all the running off. As it was, she knew where he was going so she just followed with Donna and Lance trailing behind.

The Doctor had already called the lift. “We’re on the third floor,” he reminded them just as it pinged and the door opened. “Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?” There was no word of correction, so he stepped into the metal box, Danni following.

“There it is,” she commented, pointing at the button. “A lower basement button.”

“There’s a whole floor which doesn’t exist on the official plans,” the Doctor confirmed. “So what’s down there then?” He wasn’t even sure where Danni had gotten that information from. Had she noticed it too, or was it something she already knew? He was never sure with her.

“Are you telling me this building’s got a secret floor?” Lance asked in disbelief.

“No,” the Doctor replied. “We’re _showing_ you this building's got a secret floor,” the Doctor replied.

“It needs a key,” Donna pointed out. She was right. Included on the button was a little key hole, obviously to stop anyone without authorisation heading down.

“I don't,” the Doctor boasted. With a quick buzz of his sonic screwdriver the lock clicked and he turned to look at the bride and her almost-husband. He placed a hand on Danni’s back, ready to push her back out into the hallway.

“Right then, thanks you three, I can handle this - see you later.”

Danni scoffed. This was _her_ dream, she controlled where she went, not some Time Lord. “As if you're going anywhere without me, Spaceman,” she replied firmly. The Doctor opened his mouth to try and convince her to stay behind. He couldn’t be sure that, in this state of mind, she would be safe going to see what was hiding in the basement. However, Donna joined them in the lift before he could say anything.

“You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight,” she declared with an air of finality. The Doctor relented. Perhaps it was better he kept the two redheads in sight at all time.

“Going down,” he settled on, finger ready of the button, and Donna looked at Lance.

“Lance!” she commanded firmly. The man looked around, at the exits to the building, looking for an escape.

“Maybe I should go to the police,” he suggested. The look on Donna’s face suggested that this was not what she had wanted to head.

“ _Inside._ ”

Lance meekly stepped into the lift, trying to look like he wasn’t just doing as he was told. The Doctor couldn’t help but lean in slightly closer. “To honour and obey,” he reminded the groom.

“Tell me about it, mate,” Lance replied, annoyed.

“Oi!” Donna said, scolding them both. Danni smirked slightly as both men seemed to shut up at her warning tones. Danni grinned to herself. She did always love Donna.

_~0~0~0~_

The lift door pinged as it opened again, this time revealing a dark, damp corridor lit by an ominous green lighting. It smelt horrid and as they all stepped out to have a look around, Danni’s nose wrinkled up. It seemed to stretch on for quite a while in either direction and the Doctor tried to spot something that might give them any indication on what was going on.

“Where are we?” Donna asked. “What goes on down here?”

“Let's find out...” the Doctor murmured.

“Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?” Donna pressed.

“The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it.”

Danni was in two minds about what was going to happen next. Lance’s fate seemed a little cruel, but she wasn’t sure if she should even change it. It made her head hurt to even think about the moral implications of it. He was a dick, but death by spider? Was that really a suitable punishment?

Then she remembered it was a dream, so she really didn’t have to care. It had already happened. Lance was written to die so she just had to go along with it.

She grinned, tugging at the Doctor’s sleeve. “There,” she declared, causing him to turn his attention in the other direction. He seemed rather pleased as well.

“Oh, look – transport.”

He walked off in the direction of the Segways that Danni had pointed out with a joy of someone about to have some fun on an otherwise bad day. Danni was fast behind him and soon the four of them were making their way down the corridor.

They all tried to look serious, but Danni had never been any good at hiding her emotions and so she was the first to start giggling. Donna was next, and soon the Doctor joined in.

“This is ridiculous!” Danni cried. “She’s in her wedding dress!”

“I’m in my wedding dress!” Donna cackled. Danni suddenly felt like she was having the time of her life. Watching the Doctor and his companions seeing the universe and having a good time was one of the reasons she loved the show so much. Even in the depths of the horror he could come across, he could always find the best of the universe and humanity. She really wished it was something that would stay.

The Doctor noticed the sign the moment it came into view. ‘Torchwood Authorised Personnel Only’. It was always _something_ to do with Torchwood, wasn’t it? He really didn’t want to follow that lead but it was the best he had, so he parked up and quickly dashed over to the door the sign was stuck to.

He quickly opened the door, revealing nothing more than a small square room and a ladder that lead upwards. He turned to the trio. Donna and Lance were staring at him expectantly whilst Danni was still grinning from ear to ear. He couldn’t risk them running off or doing something stupid.

He pointed at them all. “Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't do anything,” he instructed firmly before he started climbing upwards.

Danni leant into the room, looking upwards as he climbed. She considered, for a moment, following him but that seemed like a _lot_ of ladder to climb. She was probably better off staying behind. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what she was going to see up there anyway. “You'd better come back,” she warned him anyway.

“I couldn't get rid of you if I tried.” She was slightly taken aback by the harshness off his words. She hadn’t expected him to sound mildly annoyed. Then again he _was_ climbing a rather long ladder. She couldn’t blame him for being more concerned about that than his tone.

Still, words would have to be had. She wouldn’t stand for him being rude. This was her dream, he had to behave properly.

_~0~0~0~_

“Thames flood barrier!” the Doctor declared, jumping down the last part of the ladder rather dramatically. He’d had an inkling they had been underneath the river, but it was nice to know exactly where they were. “Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath.”

“What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?” Donna asked sceptically.

“I know! Unheard of,” he replied almost sarcastically as he walked away, Danni falling into line next to him.

“Can't be many left unused. It was bound to be the Thames eventually,” she commented quietly, to which he nodded in agreement. He didn’t even ask how she knew that considering how new she seemed to the whole ‘adventure’ scenario, but he would find out more when they had time to do so. He didn’t want to…

He stopped, turning to her. “How do you know that?” he asked. “You shouldn’t know that. You shouldn’t know anything about the secrets underneath London.”

She shrugged. “Of course I know that,” she replied. “It’s my dream, I know everything.”

“You’re not…” he started before realising that if it was going to take a lot more than him telling her it wasn’t a dream for her to believe it, like he could use his last dying breath to tell Donna he wasn’t a Martian and she wouldn’t pay any attention. He could see it on her face, and she’d always been so bloody stubborn that he was never going to change her mind.

His strides were slightly farther apart as he continued down the hallway and she struggled to keep up with him. She’d annoyed him, she could tell, but hopefully it would pass. He had bigger things to deal with than the source of her spoilers, surely? And she didn’t want to tell him that he was a TV character. Even in a dream that seemed so cruel.

This time the door they approached had a large glass window in with the Torchwood ‘T’ symbol printed on it. The green flood lighting illuminated it like it was the exit, but instead it led to another room. Danni couldn’t help but look around in amazement at all of the chemistry equipment that had been stuffed into the room, all bubbling and boiling away. Immediately she wanted to run around and touch every single thing, trying to work out what it was all for. No wonder the Doctor couldn’t resist a large, red button. Everything was so tempting.

“Oh, look at this! Stunning!” the Doctor cried as he looked around like a kid in candy store. Danni smiled fondly; he was adorable.

“What does it do?” Donna exclaimed, sounding offended she was out of her depth.

“Particle extrusion,” the Doctor explained as if everyone should have known what that was. “Hold on...” He darted over to a one, tapping on a small blue bubbling tube, watching the reaction, grinning wildly. “Brilliant,” he declared, a grin on his face. “They've been manufacturing Huon particles. Of course, my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure.”

“Your people?” Lance asked. “Who are they? What company do you represent?”

“Oh, he's just an ancient amateur,” Danni replied for him. “He just passes through and helps out where he can.”

“That’s me,” the Doctor agreed as he continued to examine the equipment. It was quite genius, really, if it hadn’t been so incredibly worrying. “But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result.” He pulled out a small glass container from underneath one of the giant tubes. “Huon particles in liquid form.”

“And that's what's inside me?” Donna asked quietly. He replied by gently twisting the top of the tube, causing the contents to glow a brilliant gold. Donna gasped as she also began glowing gold. “ _Oh, my God!_ ”

“Genius,” he commented. “Because the particles are inert they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then...” He explained before trailing off as he worked out what had happened. “ _HA!_ ” he exclaimed as both Danni and Donna jumped as he began pacing backwards and forwards madly. “The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle - oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!”

Donna, terrified and angry in equal measure, slapped him hard across the face, surprising him enough to cause him to stumble backwards. “What did I do this time?” he asked indignantly.

“Are you enjoying this?” she demanded angrily and the Doctor calmed down, slightly ashamed of himself.

“Of course not,” Danni interjected, walking over to the other woman. Throughout this whole episode Danni had always felt so sorry for Donna. She’d been loud and brass, but she’d just wanted to get married to a man who she loved and who she thought loved her in return. “He just gets excited when he works things out, but that’s a good thing. You know why?” Donna shook her head. “Because if he knows what it is, he can fix it.”

“Am I safe?” Donna asked them both imploringly. “These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?”

“Yes,” the Doctor said both dismissively and unconvincingly. Donna stared at him, seeing straight through his lie.

“Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?” she asked him.

The Doctor could see it on her face, and he couldn’t lie to her. “Because they were deadly.”

“Oh, my God...” she breathed out, looking around the room, trying to find a way out of the news she’d just been given.

Danni instinctively reached out, taking hold of Donna’s arms to force her to look at her. “Donna,” she started gently. “He will fix this. That’s what he does. The Doctor comes in, saves the day, and fixes things. He will fix you too.”

“Really?” Donna asked. “How?”

“It doesn’t matter how,” Danni replied. “He will. That’s what he does. You are not safe yet, but you will be. He’ll reverse it and you will be fine.”

The Doctor stared at the top of the smaller ginger woman’s head, as surprised by her words as Donna seemed to be comforted by them. She hadn’t met him yet, but she seemed already to have so much faith in him. Where had she come from?

As he turned to Donna, who looked afraid despite her best efforts not to, he couldn’t help but think of the events that had brought them here. How it had been Torchwood who had opened the cracks, how Rose had been on the other side. How he’d wanted to tell her so much when she disappeared, only for the words to stick in his throat.

“I'm not about to lose someone else,” he added with the determination in his tone and in his gaze.

The sound of machinery starting up took them all out of the moment. “Oh, she is long since lost,” a female voice hissed. Much to the surprise of everyone – even Danni who felt like she didn’t remember that particular part of the episode – the wall behind them began to rise up off the floor. There had been no sign that it had been a façade, but it rose to reveal a secret room. Everything was made of stone and there was a very large, very deep hole in the floor. There were cobwebs everywhere and robots lined either wall on scaffolding, but Danni could only focus on the never-ending chasm, knowing exactly what was hiding down there. If this had been real she would have been absolutely terrified, but she told herself that it was just a dream. There was no need to panic. Her heart really didn’t have to race so hard. She definitely wasn’t going to fall straight down the hole and into the mouths of thousands of spider babies.

She stepped slightly backwards, away from the hole. Just in case.

“I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe...” the voice continued, sounding like she was slobbering, like she had too much in her mouth. “Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!” All the robots, in unison, turned and pointed their guns at the group. Donna stared, open mouthed, still surprised by everything they were coming across. The Doctor, on the other hand, placed his hands in his pockets and stepped forward.

“Someone's been digging,” he commented, moving towards the giant hole. Immediately Danni saw him falling down it, even though she knew that didn’t happen. He peered over the edge. “Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?”

“Does it matter?” Danni snapped. “Get away from it.”

“Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!” the voice told him, still not revealing herself.

“Really?” the Doctor replied, not really expecting that answer. He had hoped for something a bit more meaningful. “Seriously? What for?”

Donna’s face lit up slightly as she had an idea. She hitched her skirt up slightly and moved to his side. “Dinosaurs,” she stated.

“What?” he asked.

“Dinosaurs?” she repeated, sounding a little unsure at his confused look, but sticking to her idea none the less.

“What are you on about ‘dinosaurs’?” he replied, trying to work out what she was trying to tell him. Was it code? Were the Huon particles causing her to feel slightly unwell?

“That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs,” she explained. “Trying to help”

“That's not helping,” the Doctor replied.

“Hey, rude!” Danni scolded him. She took a glance over the edge of the hole, then decided it might have just been better to ignore it. Scary parts of dreams usually meant something, didn’t they? Perhaps the reason she was so focused on it was because there was a hole in part of her life and it had nothing to do with the idea of plummeting into the mouths of tiny alien spider-babies. She stepped a little closer to the pair as if to prove she really wasn’t scared.

“Such a sweet couple,” the voice interrupted mockingly.

For some reason that thought really annoyed the Doctor. He started turning on the spot in a circle, looking for the source of the voice. “Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?”

“High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night.”

“I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!” he taunted as he paced around the two women.

“Who are you with such command?” the voice hissed, offended by his tone.

“I'm the Doctor.”

“Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart.” In a wave of light, the large red spider-like creature Danni had been expecting appeared in the corner of the room. She snarled and growled, trying to look fearsome and intimidating. It was working. On the show she’d looked like some woman in a ridiculous costume, up close she was terrifying. Even the Doctor was looking up at her in horror.

“The Racnoss,” he breathed. “But that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!”

“Empress of the Racnoss,” the creature declared proudly.

“If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss?” the Doctor demanded, eyes widening in realisation as he answered his own question. “Or... are you the only one?”

“Such a sharp mind,” the Empress replied, sounding like it was more of an insult that a compliment.

“That's it, the last of your kind.” He turned to Donna and Danni “The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets.”

“Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?” the Empress cried.

Donna blinked, stunned as she realised what was being implied. “They eat _people_?”

“H C Clements, did he wear those- those erm, black and white shoes?” the Doctor asked. Donna nodded, grinning at the memory.

“He did!” she replied. “We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats.”

Both the Doctor and Danni pointed to the ceiling in unison, to the cobweb that had a pair of feet dangling out of it wearing black and white shoes. It took a moment for Donna to locate where they were pointing, but when she did she grabbed the Doctor’s arm in shock. “ _Oh my god!”_

“Mm, my Christmas dinner,” the Empress told them before cackling and smacking her lips together.

“You shouldn't even exist!” the Doctor accused before turning back to his companions. “Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss - they were wiped out.” Danni caught sight of Lance climbing towards the Empress and sighed to herself; not long now.

“Except for me,” the Empress boasted as Donna caught sight of her fiancé. She quickly formed a plan in her head, stepping forward so that the Racnoss would keep her attention on her.

“But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing,” Donna called up. The Empress started to turn away dismissively but Donna exclaimed in annoyance. “Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?” Behind the Empress Lance had picked up an axe, walking slowly towards the giant spider. Once again the Racnoss turned her head and Donna called to get her attention. “Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me.”

“The bride is so feisty!” the Empress hissed in appreciation.

“Yes, I am!” Donna agreed. “And I don't know what you are, you big...” She made a hand motion, unable to describe the creature in front of her. “ _Thing_. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!” Donna watched with pride as Lance swung the axe towards the Racnoss, but as the Empress faced him he stopped, looked round at Donna and began to laugh with the Empress.

“That was a good one,” Lance laughed, pointing at the Racnoss. “Your face!”

“Lance is funny,” the Empress told them before laughing again.

“What?” Donna asked, confused.

“Lance is a prick!” Danni called back angrily. Donna looked to the other red head before back up at her husband-to-be.

The Doctor leant in to her. “I'm sorry.”

She only glanced at him briefly. “Sorry for what?” she asked offhandedly. “Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!”

Lance didn’t look impressed, or happy to see her anymore. He just looked annoyed. “God, she's thick,” he snapped. Donna looked back up at him, unable to comprehend what was happening. “Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map,” he continued harshly.

“I don't understand.” Donna stated quietly, looking at between the Doctor and her fiancé imploringly.

“How did you meet him?” the Doctor asked gently.

“In the office,” she reminded him, unable to see the significance.

“He made you coffee,” Danni added on the end, giving Donna a soft rub on the arm for comfort whilst continuing to glare up at the horrible man who had tricked her for all this time.

“What?” Donna asked, still confused.

“Every day, I made you coffee,” Lance explained as if he was talking to a child.

“You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months,” the Doctor explained and it all clicked in Donna’s mind. The horrid truth of what had happened to her.

“He was poisoning me,” she realised, wounded.

“It was all there in the job titled,” the Doctor declared, looking up at the two monsters in front of them. Another example of the stain of humanity. “The Head of Human Resources.”

“This time, it's personnel,” Lance finished jokingly. He and the Racnoss laughed at the terrible pun together before turning back to face the trio.

“But... we were getting married,” Donna tried weakly.

“Well, I couldn't risk you running off,” Lance replied bluntly. “I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap. ‘ _Oh, Brad and Angelina - is Posh pregnant? X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me_!’” he ranted off before looking at her in disgust. “Dear God, the never-ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia.”

“Hey!” Danni exclaimed, unable to listen to him any longer. She’d hated this part in the episode and even dreaming about it made her blood boil. She pointed at Donna whilst never taking her eyes of Lance. “This woman is the most important woman to ever exist!” she told him sincerely and passionately. “If you think any different then you deserve exactly what's coming to you!”

“I deserve a medal,” he insisted.

“You deserve everything you get!” Danni reiterated.

“Is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss?” the Doctor asked. “What are you? Her consort?”

“It's better than a night with her,” Lance replied, motioning to Donna as if he hadn’t done enough damage already.

“But I love you,” Donna said almost mournfully. Lance looked at her pitifully.

“That's what made it easy,” he replied nastily. “It's like you said, Doctor,” he continued. “The big picture. What's the point of it all if the human race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to-to go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?” The Doctor just looked back at him disgusted at his actions.

“Who is this little physician?” the Empress hissed and Lance glanced at her.

“She said Martian,” he replied.

The Doctor shrugged, hands in his pockets as he started to walk towards the giant hole in the ground. “Oh, I'm sort of homeless,” he brushed off. “But the point is, what's down here?” He pointed downwards. “The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?”

“I think he wants us to talk,” Lance taunted in a childish tone.

“I think so too,” the Empress replied.

“Well, tough!” Lance finished. “All we need is Donna!”

“Kill this chattering little doctor-man!” the Empress ordered her robots. Donna, terrified and angry, moved in front of the Doctor, arms spread to her side. She felt helpless and useless, but the Doctor and Danni had tried to help her whereas Lance and his spider girlfriend had just wanted to hurt her. She was only small and ineffective, but she wasn’t just going to stand back and watch him die.

“Don't you hurt him!” she exclaimed.

“No, no, it's all right,” the Doctor reassured her as he tried to move her back behind him again.

“No, I won't let them!”

Danni reached out, grabbing Donna’s hand. “It's fine, I promise,” she told the other woman.

“At arms!” the Empress cried. The robots around the room turned and pointed their guns at the Doctor, ready for the order to shoot.

“Ah, now, except,” the Doctor started, pointing into the air with both fingers.

“ _Take aim!_ ”

“Well, I just want to point out the obvious…” he continued.

“They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots,” the Empress promised with a sickly grin that showed off all of her teeth. It was too many, Danni decided. Too many teeth.

“Just-- just-- just-- hold on, just a tick, just a tiny-- just a little-- tick.” He showed the size of the tick with his finger and thumb just to show how little time this was going to take. “If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it,” he pulled out the tube of liquid Huon particles and turned to top like he had done before, “the spaceship comes to her.” He pulled the tube of Huon partials out of his pocket and turned the top around. Danni pushed herself up against the Doctor as Donna started to glow again.

“Fire!” the Empress ordered but the bullets bounced away as the TARDIS materialised around the trio. The Doctor darted to the console as Danni felt an unnatural amount of relief to see the TARDIS again.

“Off we go!” he cried as he flew the TARDIS away from harm. “Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it.” He told her as he flew the box into the Vortex, “We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up…”

“Doctor?” Danni called over. “How about we just stop for a minute, yeah?”

He looked over at the pair. Donna was stood there, sobbing quietly and Danni had already moved over to give her a hug. He felt a bit bad about being so excited to see the beginning of the universe and instead flew them away silently as Danni helped Donna sit down in the pilot seat.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” she whispered gently. “I’m so sorry.”

_~0~0~0~_


	4. The Empty Thames

The Doctor was a lot more subdued as they landed on the other side of their journey. He didn’t comment on how Danni was comforting Donna even though she had no idea who she was, or that she didn’t believe that any of this was real in the first place. Instead he just watched them for a moment, appreciating how much of a comfort Danni could be.

“We’ve arrived,” he declared, causing the two women to look up at him. “Want to see?”

Danni gave Donna a gentle rub on her back. “You should,” she encouraged gently. Donna nodded in agreement before wiping her eyes.

“I s’pose,” she replied, reluctant to do anything at all. She’d been poisoned, repeatedly, by the man who she loved. She’d thought he’d loved her back. She’d supposed to have been getting married. She just wanted to curl up in bed.

The Doctor made a show of looking at his monitor, pulling it over to him before frowning. “Hold on, that scanner's a bit small,” he told them both before heading over to the doorway. “Maybe your way's best.” He headed down the ramp towards the front door before pausing, turning to them. “Come on.”

Donna shot him a look that suggested that she couldn’t believe he expected her to _move_ but sighed before following him.

“No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first,” he continued, hoping to cheer her up.

“All I want to see is my bed,” she replied sadly. He didn’t reply, knowing that she would change her mind when she looked out. He glanced over at Danni, who had moved to the scanner to look out on the monitor instead. He’d expected her to follow Donna.

“Danni?” he called over.

She looked at him, surprised that he was paying attention to her. Donna was the one who needed cheering up, after all. She had always felt so terrible for her during this part of the episode but she hadn’t expected to feel so sad when experiencing it first-hand. After all, something much worse than Lance would happen to her in the future. She hadn’t followed because, even though she knew the sight outside was spectacular, she’d just wanted Donna to feel better.

“Yeah?” she called back.

“Come on. First humans and all that,” he encouraged. She smiled and the Doctor felt a little twinge of guilt at how surprised she was that she was being included. She skipped over to his side and he gently moved her forward to stand by Donna.

“Donna Noble, Danielle Fielding – welcome to the creation of the Earth.” He opened the doors towards them, revealing the creation of the Earth outside. Rocks spun around in brightly coloured dust and gas clouds, all being illuminated by the sun in the distance. Donna stepped forward involuntarily, staring out in awe.

“It’s beautiful,” Danni breathed, amazed at what she was seeing. It looked nothing like she remembered on television. The colours were so vibrant, and it felt like the universe was stretching out around them. She supposed it was, really. She had the urge to reach out and see if it was actually in front of her but she could barely move. No wonder he never stood still; this was stunning. If only it hadn’t been a dream then she could truly be happy seeing the universe like this.

He smiled. That was more of the reaction he’d expected from her. “We've gone back 4.6 billion years,” he explained to them both. “There's no Solar System, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas.” He startled them both as he pointed out. “That's the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn.”

“Where's the Earth?” Donna asked. The Doctor looked down at her, trying not to grin as she became more and more involved in what was happening. He loved this part.

“All around us,” he explained. “In the dust.” Donna looked up at him, a little stunned, but he didn’t correct himself. She looked back out at the mass of rocks around them.

“Puts the wedding in perspective,” she commented. “Lance was right. We're just... tiny.”

“No, but that's what you do,” he nudged her. “The Human Race. Make sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars.” He glanced down at Danni, who was watching out of the door like she wasn’t even listening to him. He knew she was, though. He was the one to introduce her to all of the wonder of the universe and he knew she was taking in every little piece of information she could. “This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed.” She looked up, meeting his eyes and they shared a grin. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, though, and he made a note to ask her about it later.

“So, we came out of all this?” Donna asked.

“Isn't that brilliant?” the Doctor replied.

“Yeah,” Danni whispered in reply whereas Donna just made a noise of agreement. A large chunk of rock floated lazily passed and Donna nodded towards it.

“I think that's the Isle of Wight.”

They all let out a little laugh at the thought, showing that even though Donna was hurt, she was going to be okay.

“Eventually, gravity takes hold,” the Doctor continued to explain. “Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the...”

“The Earth,” Donna finished, almost as excited as he was. He nodded happily.

“But the question is; what was that first rock?”

“I’m going to say that one,” Danni said, pointing out at the star-shaped rock that was emerging from behind one of the gas clouds.

“The Racnoss…” the Doctor breathed, everything coming together in his head. He turned and ran to the console, spinning one of the wheel controls. “Hold on – the Racnoss are hiding from the war!” he cried as the universe outside began speed up, like a video being fast-forwarded. The Racnoss ship flew in front of the TARDIS, where the rocks around it began to stick to it. “What’s it doing?”

“Exactly what you said,” Donna replied. He ran back over to the door to have a look for himself.

“They became the centre of the Earth,” Danni explained softly.

“The first rock,” the Doctor added. The TARDIS suddenly shook violently, the sound of an explosion ringing out from the console. Danni and Donna grabbed onto the TARDIS doors as the Doctor fell to the ground, only to quickly jump back up to his feet.

“What was that?” Donna exclaimed.

“Trouble,” he replied as he slammed the doors shut. They all ran up to the console as the TARDIS shuddered and shook. Donna took hold of the console but Danni fell to the floor before she could make it. Instead she took hold of the railings on the ramp, staying on the floor as the TARDIS rocked.

“What the hell's it doing?” Donna cried over the noise. The Doctor, after stumbling himself, ran to the opposite side of the console from the would-be bride.

“Remember that little trick I pulled - particles pulling particles,” he replied. He kicked a leaver and the TARDIS shuddered again. “It works in reverse. They're pulling us back!”

 “Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?” Donna asked angrily as the Doctor tried to fight the TARDIS back under his control.

“Backseat driver,” he grumbled before jumping at his own idea. “Oh! Wait a minute!” He reached over and pulled out a big circuit board attached to the console by wires that buzzed as it came into life. He balanced it onto the console in front of him. “The extrapolator!” he cried, like they all should have known what it was. “Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!”

He waited for a moment before grabbing his trusty mallet. “ _Now!”_ He whacked the extrapolator and the TARDIS shuddered one more time before settling as she landed on the other side of the trip. “Come on!”

He helped Danni back onto her feet before the trio ran out into the tunnels underneath H C Clements. It was still dark, but this time with a blue light.

“We're about 200 yards to the right. Come on!”

“But what do we do?” Donna asked, scared as they followed down the hallway to one of the metal doors that led to the Thames above them.

“I don't know! I make it up as I go along!” he replied before looking over his shoulder. “But trust me, I've got a history.”

Danni nodded as he pulled out his stethoscope. “He does,” she confirmed. “Usually it hits him just at the right moment, wrapping up an episode in a neat little bow.”

The Doctor frowned as he put the end of the stethoscope against the metal door. “Episode?” he repeated.

Donna shook her head. “But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles, but what for?” she asked.

“There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss are stuck,” the Doctor rambled as Danni frowned. Something was going to happen now. But what? He got through the door, so why was it taking so long?

Her eyes widened as something cold and metal covered her mouth, pulling her back and away from the Doctor. Of course. The robots. The robots that took Donna and strapped her to the ceiling with Lance. The pair struggled as they were dragged away, but neither of them could make a sound and soon they were attached to the ceiling of the laboratory along with Lance, who looked just as annoyed as they felt.

The Empress appeared underneath them, looking incredibly pleased with herself. Danni glared down at her. “Let me down!” she shouted. “You can’t keep me up here! I’ve got a dream to continue with! Let me down!”

The Empress didn’t seem too fussed, though, as she scuttled around underneath them. Donna turned to Lance. “I hate you,” she snapped.

“Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart,” he replied nastily and she glared at him.

“Oh, do shut up,” Danni snapped. “You’re lucky we’re up here otherwise you’d be getting a slap.”

He let out a snort of derision. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I don’t have to try,” she retorted. “You’re an absolute bloody idiot thinking you’re better than her. You deserve everything that’s coming to you.”

Underneath them the Empress hissed happily. “My golden couple,” she called as she finally turning her attention to them. “And their witness. Together at last - your awful wedded life.” She laughed and Danni really hoped that she never had to see that again. She’d never look at this episode the same. On the television she’d looked like a woman dressed in a cheesy latex outfit with prosthetics and makeup. Now she looked like a giant spider, with all the teeth and legs included, and it was terrifying.

“Tell me; do you want to be released?” she asked them all with another cackle.

“ _Yes!_ ” the three called down and she looked up at them angrily.

“You're supposed to say ' _I do'_ ,” she snapped.

Lance looked at Donna before shaking his head. “Ha. No chance.”

The Empress roared. “ _Say it!_ ”

He shook his head, turning to Donna. “I do,” he said reluctantly.

“I do,” Donna shouted down. She had supposed to have been saying those words in an incredibly different setting. Now she was dangling over a giant pit, covered in spiderwebs and about to face her death.

“I don't,” the Empress cackled, like she’d made the funniest joke. Danni couldn’t help but be a little annoyed she hadn’t been asked. “Activate the particles. Purge every last one!” Next to her, Donna and Lance began glowing brighter than they had previously, so bright Danni had to squeeze her eyes shut. She didn't understand why she was up on the ceiling, she wasn't full of partials or anything useful. She was asleep.

“And release!” the Empress cried and she opened her eyes just to see the last of the partials zoom down the hole in the ground that was directly below them. She quickly looked up, away from the hole where the millions of tiny spider babies were currently sleeping. When she was probably going to get dropped. That would just be the way, wouldn’t it? Her dream wouldn’t end with the Doctor saving the day. No. This was a nightmare. She was going to get eaten alive.

“The secret heart unlocks. And they will waken from their sleep of Ages,” the Empress cried victoriously.

“Who will? What's down there?” Donna demanded, still confused and scared.

“How thick are you?” Lance replied in disbelief.

“Oi! I warned you!” Danni told him angrily but he just glared at her.

“My children, the long lost Racnoss. Now will be born to feast on flesh!” Donna looked over at Danni for an answer but she just stared back with the same pale look.

“What do we do?” the bride asked her. Danni looked down at the deep, dark hole then back at her. Donna looked terrified and hurt and emotionally drained and Danni shot her a shaky smile. This she did know. This she could help with.

“Just you wait,” she said brightly as she tried to put as much conviction and hope into her voice as she could. “The Doctor will save you. The Doctor will always save you.”

“The web-star shall come to me,” the Empress crowed in delight. “My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web.” The Empress motioned above her, a sickly grin on her face. Lance began panicking, trying to break away.

“Use them! Not me! Use them!” he tried, struggling in his little cocoon.

“Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady-friend. The Empress does not approve.”

“Look away!” Danni told Donna before slamming her eyes shut. There was a slicing noise and then Lance was screaming as he fell. Donna cried out as well, watching her ex-husband-to-be fall to his dead, but Danni didn’t open her eyes until the Empress began cackling.

Danni strongly began to suspect she was next as the sound of scuttling reached their ears from the pit below. Her heart began racing, her palms became sweaty and the dream did what it did best; tried to convince her everything was real. She was really hanging from the ceiling. She was really going to be fed to the spiders. She was really going to die in an episode of Doctor Who.

“Harvest the humans! Reduce them to meat,” the Empress commanded her children as the scurrying noises began growing in volume. “My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!” She suddenly stopped crowing in victory and turned to look at one of her robots. “So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man.” Danni grinned as the robot removed its mask and cloak, revealing the Doctor.

“Oh well. Nice try.” He aimed his sonic screwdriver at the web. “I've got you, Donna!” he told her.

“I'm gonna fall!” Donna screeched as the web loosened around her.

“You're gonna swing!” the Doctor corrected, much to her horror. She grasped the web just in time and went swinging over the giant hole and towards the Doctor, who had his arms outstretched ready.

“I've got ya!”

Donna headed straight for the Doctor, over the pit, past the Empress and straight towards the platform the Doctor was on.

Or, rather, straight under it. She smacked straight into the wall. Danni grimaced. The Doctor grimaced. Even the Empress looked slightly pained as she dropped to the floor in true cartoon fashion.

“...Oh. Sorry,” the Doctor apologised.

“Thanks for nothing,” Donna snapped back. The Doctor turned his attention to Danni, who quickly began shaking her head.

“Oh, not a chance!” she barked out. “You are not swinging me into a wall, Spaceman. Just leave me here until later!” He rolled his eyes, ignored her wish, and pointed his screwdriver up the ceiling. She barely grabbed hold of the web in time, screaming as she swung towards him. She had been further away from him than Donna which aided in her descent as she landed in his outstretched arms instead of against the wall like Donna.

She clung to him as she shook from the adrenaline and fear. “Thanks,” she murmured.

“That’s alright,” he replied quietly in reply. “Want to let go?”

She shook her head. “I-I don’t think I can right now,” she admitted. Her fingers were digging into his arms, but her entire body felt locked. That was absolutely terrifying. And incredibly fun. She wasn’t sure how to feel but she was sure she should, at the very least, be able to let him go.

“The doctor-man amuses me,” the Empress interrupted them and he turned to the giant spider, twisting his body she was stood by the stairs and he was closer to the Racnoss.

“Empress of the Racnoss - I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now,” he offered and she hissed in amusement.

“These men are so funny.”

“What's your answer?” he asked although he knew the answer.

“Oh - I'm afraid I have to decline,” she laughed at the end and his face hardened.

“What happens next is your own doing,” he warned her.

“I'll show you what happens next,” she hissed, suddenly very angry at being threatened. “At arms!” The robots situated around the room raised their guns at the Time Lord and the human that clung to him like a scared girl. Danni even knew what was going to happen next but being surrounded by guns wasn’t exactly comforting. Again, that _had_ to be the dream taking over.

Right?

“Take aim!” the Empress cried.  The robots cocked their guns as they aimed at them both. “And--”

The Doctor dipped his head closer to Danni’s. “Relax,” he said softly, to both her and the robots. Danni did, slightly, as the robots around them lowered their guns, going completely limp.

“What did you do?” Donna called up at them.

“Guess what I've got, Donna?” he replied as he pulled a controller out of his pocket. He looked down at her with a hint of a smirk. “ _Pockets._ ”

“How did that fit in there?” she asked.

Danni couldn’t let that go. She didn’t let go of the Doctor – she was still slightly terrified and if TV had taught her one thing it was that being with him was the safest place to be – but she did look over the railings at her new friend. “They're bigger on the inside!” she cried before looking up at the Doctor. “Sorry; I stole your line.”

“My line?” he asked, bewildered. All she offered was a shrug.

“Robo-forms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh,” the Racnoss declared.

“Oh, but I'm not from Mars,” the Doctor replied, going back to the matter at hand before he got pulled into another conversation when he’d ask Danni questions and she’d just reply with that _stupid_ word.

“Then where?” the Empress demanded.

“My home planet is far away and long-since gone. But its name lives on.” He paused, if only for dramatic effect. “ _Gallifrey._ ”

The Empress reared up and began hissing in fury. “They murdered the Racnoss!” she cried out.

“I warned you. You did this.” He produced a handful of baubles from the trees they had encounter earlier.

“No! No! Don't! No!” She protested, panicking as he chucked handful after handful of them into the air. He used the controller to manoeuvre some around the Empress, while others flew out of the room, down the corridor. Another bauble flew into the piping at the Empress' feet, causing fire to explode around her. Water poured into to room from the corridor and pipes around the room and began flooding the giant hole.

“My children!” the Empress wailed as Donna and Danni watched on in horror as the torrents of water fell down the pit like a plughole, drowning the scuttling Racnoss heading for them. “No! My children! My children!”

Danni turned her attention from the horror underneath them and back to the Doctor. He was watching the scene in a stoic silence, eying the Empress with contempt and complete lack of emotion. The sprinkler system was set off by the flames around them and they were all becoming steadily soaked. This was when Donna told him to stop, where he needed someone to stop him. She knew where he had come from, what he had just lost. No matter how much he ran and pretended to be fine even the Doctor needed to grieve. Even he needed someone else to take the blame.

“Doctor,” she said softly. “It’s okay. You can stop now.”

He turned to look down at the ginger woman who was still holding onto him. She wasn’t looking up at him with fear or worry, she was shooting him the gentlest of smiles, as if coaxing him out of the darkness he was allowing himself to fall into. He looked back at the Racnoss. He didn’t want to watch this. He didn’t want either of them to see this. If they stayed any longer they were all going to die.

He nodded, looking over the railings at the bride below. “Come on Donna! Time I got you out!” She ran up the stairs to meet the pair, everyone shoving debris out of the way so they could escape. The water had begun spraying over them and all three were drenched as they ran up the stairs. Danni reached back and grabbed the red-head's hand as they headed upwards, a chain of three people.

“Transport me!” the Empress called to up above, but none looked back as they reached the ladders to escape. The Doctor ascended first, followed by Donna who was let past by Danni.

“But what about the Empress?” Donna asked, worried about what the Empress would do now.

“She's used up all her Huon energy - she's defenceless!” the Doctor explained to reassure her. They reached the top and he turned the handle, but the bright light and shuddering from explosions outside kept them all in for a moment long. Soon enough, however, they were let out, Donna first, then Danni, then finally the Doctor.

Donna cheered first, almost hysterical from the delight of surviving. The Doctor laughed, joining in, and Danni couldn’t help it either. Looking out across London on Christmas Eve, finally being safe once again.

“Just... there's one problem.” Donna pointed out, trying to sound serious but the giant grin on her face contradicted this.

“What's that?” the Doctor asked, confused.

“We've drained the Thames.” They all looked out across the now empty Thames, then at each other before they began laughing with each other again.

_~0~0~0~_

They were all still rather damp when the Doctor landed on Donna’s street, just outside her house. The Doctor let Donna out first, but Danni stayed in the doorway, watching the two with a small smile on her face. It had been some dream, she had to admit. Definitely a show to say that she really needed to watch less TV and get out into the world a bit more. But how could she resist watching the two together. The Doctor-Donna; even now they already had a great rapport.

“There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything,” the Doctor declared, giving his brilliant blue box a once over anyway.

 “More than I've done,” Donna sighed sadly. The Doctor took his screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned her from head to foot.

“Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine,” he confirmed as his placed it back again.

“Yeah, but apart from that...” Donna started with a sigh. “I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of.”

The Doctor felt a little bad. Checking for physical injuries without even considering the emotions ones she would have to suffer. He seemed rather good at that. “I couldn't save him,” he apologised softly.

“He deserved it,” Donna replied quickly. The Doctor raised his eyebrows in response until she deflated. “No, he didn't,” she conceded before looking back at her house. “I'd better get inside. They'll be worried.”

“Best Christmas present they could have.” They all watched her parents through the window, hugging each other in comfort. “Oh, no, I forgot - you hate Christmas,” the Doctor teased.

“Yes, I do.”

“Even if it snows?” He reached over Danni's head and she looked upwards, looking for where he was reaching. He caught her eager gaze and moved his hand, revealing a small switch for her, smiling as she beamed in delight. She had to jump, but she just managed to reach it, hearing the blast explode with a bang. Snow began floating downwards and Donna began laughing with happy disbelief, holding her hands out to catch the flakes.

“I can't believe you did that!”

“Oh, basic atmospheric excitation,” he replied as if it was obvious, then shot her a grin. She smiled back.

“Merry Christmas.”

“And you.” They all watched the snow fall down towards the earth for a moment before he gathered the courage and asked. “So... what will you do with yourself now?”

“Not getting married for starters,” she offered with a cynical smile. “And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something.”

“Well, you could always...” he trailed off, unsure as Donna stared unwaveringly at him.

“What?”

“Come with me,” he offered.

Donna smiled, but shook her head. “No,” she told him quietly but confidently, as if she had thought about it.

“Okay,” he shot out quickly, shuffling from foot to foot, uncomfortable.

“I can't...”

“No, that's fine,” he interrupted with a false indifference. No one liked being rejected.

“No, but really... everything we did today... do you live your life like that?” she asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“Not all the time.” Even he seemed unconvinced at his answer and she shot him a look that told them she felt the same.

“I think you do. And I couldn't.”

“But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful,” he tried to convince her but she shook her head.

“And it's terrible,” she countered. “That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were stood there like... I don't know... a stranger. And then you made it snow - I mean, you scare me to death!” She looked over at Danni. “And you!” Danni blinked, surprised at being addressed. “He didn’t scare you at all! You were only scared when you were going to die, but everything else didn’t bother you at all.” Danni opened her mouth but didn't reply. She had been scared. With the Racnoss she had been terrified, but ultimately her fear was unfounded. She was going to wake up. Claire would find her, give her a shake and this probably wouldn’t even last as a distant memory. And that was a good thing.

Wasn’t it?

“Well then,” the Doctor stated after a short pause, eager to move on from the situation at hand.

“Tell you what I will do though - Christmas dinner.” The Doctor suddenly looked scared at the thought and Danni giggled.

“Oh, come on,” Danni moaned, knowing he would never actually agree. “I want to go!”

“I don't do that sort of thing,” he reminded her.

“You did it last year, you said so,” Donna pointed out as she motioned behind her at her house. “And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty.” The Doctor appeared to deliberate on the thought, drawing his breath in through his teeth to show his reluctance.

“Oh, all right then. But you go first, better warn them. And... don't say I'm a Martian.” He motioned to the TARDIS. “We just have to park her properly, she might drift off to the Middle Ages. We'll see you in a minute.” He grabbed Danni's arm and pulled her in, shutting the door and walking up to the console.

“I knew you wouldn't,” Danni told him in a sing-song voice as he began taking off.

“Yeah, yeah, you know everything,” he replied with a resigned sigh. Perhaps he should have stayed. But then, perhaps he made the right choice. He could fly away with Danni and see the universe with her. He didn’t need anyone else.

“ _Doctor!”_ Donna's voice called through the TARDIS and he stared at the door in surprise.

“But we’re in flight,” he said, as if it shouldn’t be possible. But, then again, nothing about Donna had seemed possible. He parked them back on the street and opened the door. “Blimey, you can shout.”

“Am I ever gonna see you again?” she asked.

He smiled softly. “If I'm lucky.”

“Just... promise me one thing;” Donna asked after a pause. “Don't let her go.”

“I don't need anyone,” he countered.

“Yes, you do,” she corrected. “Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you.” He glanced back at Danni, who just waved at Donna from the console. There had been no judgement in her eyes as she’d helped him stop. She’d just wanted to help.

“Yeah,” he agreed as he turned back round to her. Donna was right. “Thanks then, Donna - good luck - and just... be magnificent.”

Donna straightened in her damp wedding dress. “I think I will, yeah,” she replied with a laugh in her voice. He closed the door again and turned to walk back to the console when Donna's voice echoed through the room. He rolled his eyes and opened the door slightly again.

“Oh, what is it now?” he asked in mock exasperation.

“That friend of yours... what was her name?” Donna asked gently.

His hearts hurt, but he smiled at the reminder. “Her name was Rose,” he announced proudly. Danni could hear the tears in his voice as he came back in and flew them away.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni could have spent an eternity walking around the TARDIS. Everything felt so real and her mind was creating a multitude of rooms for her to explore. The Doctor had sent her into the hallways, directing her to the wardrobe to get some dry clothes but she had become distracted. And, while her brain allowed her to explore, she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. She couldn’t help but be slightly worried that she had been rather badly injured in the real world. She really should have woken up by now, surely?

It was with that question in mind that she headed back to the console room and the Doctor. She was still surprised that _this_ was the episode that her mind had conjured up for her to live through, after all she had become very much an Eleven girl as his tenure had gone on. But _the Runaway Bride_ was her favourite Christmas episode so far, so maybe that was why.

She paused, watching him stare at one of the scanner screened around the main console, looking at the vastness of space outside. He seemed so sad and she knew exactly why. She just wasn’t sure if she could help him, and she never wanted the Doctor to be sad, dream or not.

She walked over, hands in the pockets of the new dress she’d chosen. It appeared that the TARDIS really _did_ have an infinite wardrobe and she loved the blue dress she’d chosen. It had white pockets near the bottom as well as pockets at the hips – actual _functional_ pockets – and she’d topped it off with black tights, a black cardigan and matching blue flats. It was a look she was going to have to recreate when she woke up.

“She knows, you know?” she told him and he turned around to look at her. He looked surprised, as if he hadn’t noticed her approach.

“Sorry?” he asked in reply.

“Rose,” she clarified. “Even though you never said it, she knows. And she is so alive and fighting and just living. It'll be hard but that knowledge will help you. And wait 'til you see what's to come; it's magnificent.” She shot him a grin and he stared back at her with a sad smile. He pulled her in for a hug, which she returned tightly. When he let her go, he looked her up and down and a look of realisation fell on his face.

“You've changed,” he stated as he forced himself out of his despair and she spun around, the skirt of the dress flaring slightly around her legs.

“Do you like?” she asked when she stopped and he nodded.

“You look fantastic,” he told her sincerely and she grinned. She pulled the screen down to her eye level, staring out at the stars. It really was remarkably beautiful.

“So, where are you taking me?”

“You're just assuming I'm taking you somewhere?” he asked, mock outraged.

“Yes,” she replied simple. Her dream, her rules. “Where?”

“Where do you want to go?” he asked her and she rolled her eyes.

“Somewhere awesome, obviously.” He grinned knowingly and began flipping switches, sending the TARDIS into turmoil and Danni into the railings with a groan. Her wrist whacked against a bar hard and a loud cracking noise came from the leather device over her arm. She hissed as it began burning, sizzling the skin underneath.

“Oww…” she moaned as she tried to undo the straps, but she couldn't get a grip on the buckle. Her fingers just glided over them like they were painted on, even as she felt the buckles raised on her skin. She looked up at the Doctor. “It won't come off,” she stated confused.

He nodded. “It never will,” he replied sadly. Her heart sped up, panic gripping her at the look on his face. That was his ‘I’m Sorry’ face. The one where he knew something terrible was about to happen and it was something he could never change. She saw it enough on TV but having it directed at her was really awful.

She couldn’t ask anymore, though, as the force she had felt in Claire’s front room slammed into her once again. It knocked the window out of her as her vision went white and she was thrown through the air.


	5. The Hungry Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Because this is a rewrite, I've decided to just update when I finish the next adventure. So updates may be a bit sparse, but they also should come multi-chaptered.
> 
> If you want to read the unedited, old version and catch up with Danni, it's on FF.net. Same username, same story name the lot :)

Danni groaned as the hit the floor very soundly. If it had been springy, she was certain she would have bounced. Instead, it was very solid and she just very suddenly came to a halt.

“Doctor?” she called with a cough as her vision came back. She felt the chill in the air and glanced around; she was sat on a hill. A wet hill. A cold, wet, probably muddy hill. It wasn't raining at the moment, but one look upwards told her it was about to at any moment. So, she was still in Britain.

She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she was sure dream transitions weren’t supposed to hurt that badly. She felt very slightly winded, though, from the less than graceful landing on the wet, dirty, grassy hill. Even in the damp weather the scenery around her was incredibly pretty. She did appreciate a nice landscape. In the distance she could see some houses and some sort of industrial area. It didn’t help narrow where her brain had taken her to, but it seemed logical to assume that she was going to meet someone soon.

So, with no clue on where she was or if the Doctor was going to still be part of her dream, she stood up and decided to walk downwards. She was glad she was still dressed as she had been when the toy vortex manipulator had knocked her out because the air was rather biting. It would appear her mind didn’t want her to go anywhere warm. Was that always a factor of her dreams? She’d never noticed it before. She wondered if she’d remember that whenever she was woken up again.

In the distance she caught sight of two figures. They were too far away to make out but they were definitely waving at someone. She followed what appeared to be their eyeline and saw a rather beautiful blue box sat in a graveyard. She grinned to herself; Doctor Who dream still continuing. That was definitely a win in her books.

She started running towards the little church in the middle of the graveyard, realising quickly that her momentum wasn’t going to let her slow down easy. She could feel her feet stumbling over each other and it was a miracle that she hadn’t fallen over on the way down.

The Doctor slowly came into view, crouched down looking at the grass. Two things stood out to her. One; the grass was patchy and blue. Two; the Doctor was wearing tweed.

“Doctor!” she cried, coming the sudden realisation that she wasn’t going to be stop before she reached him. The Doctor jumped up, turning around and grinning wildly.

“Danni-Girl!” he cried.

“Move!” she shouted as she barrelled ever closer. He looked vaguely confused but she didn’t have much time to process it as she ploughed straight into him, knocking them both to the floor. She groaned and he laughed happily.

She pushed herself up off him – a little reluctantly, after all what were dreams for? – but didn’t stand up. “You’re not the Doctor,” she declared with a frown. She then shook her head. “No, that’s wrong,” she corrected. “You _are_ the Doctor, you’re just not the Doctor I was just with.”

As she was about to continue he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down for an unexpected hug. “Danni-Girl!” he cried again. “It feels like it’s been forever!”

She enjoyed the hug for a moment before her senses kicked in and she rolled off him, landing rather clumsily next to him. “Well I was just with you,” she replied. “Not you, though. Other you. You know, David Tennant.” He sat up next to her, brows furrowing although she didn’t understand why _he_ was confused. “I thought transitions were supposed to be seamless. Why do I know you’ve regenerated since then?”

“You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” he asked her.

“I’m dreaming,” she offered, although he pulled a face that made her think that wasn’t what he was after. He pulled the face when he was looking for something more, something a little deeper, like he was working it out. “I was with Ten, now I’m with you. Not that I’m complaining.”

He didn’t reply. He stood up, brushed himself down before holding his hand out for her. She took it and he helped her stand up, smiling softly at her. Her frown didn’t disappear. What was happening to make him look at her so sadly?

“Danni!” She turned and blinked in surprise at the sight of Amy Pond and Rory Williams. “I’m so glad you’re here. Can you tell him that we can leave now?”

“Leave?” she asked, still confused. She looked around. Blue grass. Short skirt. “Oh, I know where we are!” she cried happily. “We’re not in Rio!”

“Exactly!” Amy replied as if Danni had just proven her point. “Can you tell _him_ that? He always listens to you.”

“Well, of course he does,” Danni said. “It’s my dream, isn’t it?”

Rory frowned. “Your dream?” he asked. “What-What does she mean by…”

“Just how early on are you?” Amy asked her.

“What do you mean?” Danni asked her before turning to the Doctor. “What does she mean?” He quickly held up a finger, shushing her and she narrowed her eyes. “Oi! Still rude!”

He shot her a wink and she smiled happily. That was more like what she was expecting. The Doctor, on the other hand, turned his attention to the countryside around them to very cleverly dodge her question. His gaze quickly fell onto the machinery at the bottom of the valley and suddenly all he wanted to do was explore it. “Oh, look! Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio!” He turned to Amy. “Rio doesn't have a big mining thing.”

“We're not going to have a look, are we?” Amy whined, already knowing the answer.

“Let's go and have a look!” the Doctor said as if he hadn't heard her. He grabbed Danni's hand and began pulling her down the steep slope. “Come on you two, let's see what they're doing.”

Danni’s smile widened. This felt more and more like a dream she’d have normally. She wasn’t used to being in episodes, but she was much more used to the Doctor paying her more attention that the supporting cast. He held onto her tightly, pulling her along because her mind had finally decided that it’d had enough of a snappy Doctor and had given her one to include her. Not that she didn’t like spending time with Ten. Nothing wrong with a bit of David Tennant, after all.

But now that she had _her_ Doctor, she could finally enjoy herself without worrying about decoding everything.

She looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, come along Ponds!” she called. “It'll be fun!”

“Why can't all my companions have the same attitude as you?” he asked her.

“Because I’m fantastic,” she replied factually. “Plus, who would want to go to boring old Rio when there is actually blue grass here?” She stopped their movement to reach down and pull some of the grass out of the ground. “Look. It's like grass, but it's _blue._ I'm actually holding blue grass.”

He leant in a little closer, a rather enticing look in his eyes and a smug smirk on his face. “ _I know_ ,” he whispered.

“There can only be one thing more awesome than blue grass,” she continued with a little nod to herself.

“What?”

“Apple grass.” She pointed to blue grass at him. “I'd love to see apple grass. Remember that.”

He frowned. “Have you not been to New New York yet?” he asked, once again looking at her like he was trying to work her out.

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “I was with Donna, then I was with you. That’s how this works.” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, giving her a once over with a press and a buzz.

The end popped out, he read the results and his face dropped in an almost horrified realisation. He raised his eyes to meet hers. “You're young,” he declared. “You're right at the beginning, aren't you?”

“What does that even mean?” she asked. “What’s going on? You promised you were going to explain but you never got the chance before I was shot here.” She pointed at him. “Painfully, I might add. What was that about?” He opened his mouth to start explaining when he was interrupted by Amy calling their names. He held back his sigh of relief as Amy linked her arm through Danni’s, starting them walking again with the air of being the person in charge.

“This had better be good,” she warned the pair.

“Oh, it'll be something,” Danni muttered.

He ran his hand through his hair as he watched them go. She really had no idea, did she? He remembered her with Donna, he recognised the dress she was wearing although the grass stains were probably new. She had thought she was in a dream no matter how many times he’d told her otherwise.

She was so young. She didn’t know anything. Once again this was something his previous body had left for him to sort out.

He glanced back to see if Rory was following. He didn’t seem to be, but Amy wouldn’t have just left him behind without good reason. And he couldn’t leave Danni on her own, could he?

Plus, there was a big mining thingy.

_~0~0~0~_

“Restricted access. No unauthorised personnel,” the Doctor read off the sign on the locked gate. Amy had let go of Danni to look at their seemingly blocked way with a little bit of annoyance, whereas the Doctor just saw it as a challenge. He smiled at her. “What do you think, Danni-Girl?”

“I think it’s a shame we can’t get in,” she replied. “Perhaps Rio is on the cards now.”

Danni loved Eleven. She’d started watching with Nine but he’d become very much _her_ Doctor, as people said, and so most of her Who dreams revolved around him. However, as much as she loved him, this wasn’t even one of her favourite episodes and the ending wasn’t really ‘dream’ material, was it? She really liked Rory. Maybe it was time for her to try and take control of her own dream.

The Doctor nodded. “It is a shame,” he agreed. “But then again…” He pulled out his screwdriver and pointed it at the lock. It opened with a spark, causing both Danni and Amy to jump in surprise. He just looked smug, chucking the screwdriver in the air with a spin before putting it in his pocket.

“That is breaking and entering,” Amy quietly hissed.

“What did I break?” the Doctor protested.

“He’s right,” Danni replied. “Sonicking and entering. It’s totally different.” She looked up at the Doctor. “Looks like Rio’s off again.”

The Doctor couldn’t help but grin with her. Even so early on she seemed so inclined to run into everything head first. He removed the padlock, chucking it to the side before opening the gate. He motioned Danni in first. Amy rolled her eyes and quickly followed.

He took another glance up towards the graveyard. “You’re sure Rory’ll catch up?” he asked, calling after Amy as she headed inwards.

Danni had waited for him. “Rory has his own thing going on,” she told him. Apparently changing up her dream wasn’t something she could do. So, back to following the episode it was. “Let’s just follow Amy.”

The main building wasn’t anything exciting. The hallways were made up of concrete walls with no natural lighting, as if they were going underground. Which, Danni supposed, they probably were. The Doctor still looked rather confused, and a little frustrated that no one else seemed too bothered by whatever was bothering him.

“What about now, can you feel it now?” he asked them both.

“Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about,” Amy replied.

Danni held her hand up. “I can feel it!” she declared happily. She couldn't, but as she knew what was going to happen she didn’t see any harm in playing up to that a bit.

“Of course you can,” Amy retorted. “I bet you were the teacher’s pet at school as well.”

“I wasn’t the teacher’s pet,” Danni replied. “Everyone loved me. I was everyone’s pet.”

The Doctor stuttered in his step for a moment. “The ground doesn't feel like it should,” he said, probably a little louder than he meant to as he forced the conversation back on track.

“It's ten years in the future, maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels,” Amy reasoned.

“Good thought!” the Doctor praised. “But no. It doesn't.” A siren started sounded further into the building. “Hear that? Drill in start-up mode.” He pulled out his screwdriver, flashed it briefly then put it away. “After waves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass.” He pulled a piece of the grass from his pocket, put it in his mouth then promptly spat it back out again.

Amy laughed in disbelief. “Oh, please! Have you always been this disgusting?”

“No, that's recent,” he replied. Danni laughed and he looked at her with a frown. “What?”

“Bakelite,” she pointed out. He had a lot of questions. She was too new to know about him licking the Bakelite, and it wasn’t something she was even there for. Instead of asking them, though, he shifted on the spot in embarrassment at the idea that she was calling him out for a rather weird habit he had.

“That was- That was nothing,” he replied. “Nothing happened.” He quickly set back off again, turning a corner and spotting a large set of double doors. A set of doors that were open. “What's in here?” he asked as he stepped inside. There was a woman already in there looking at some equipment, who didn’t notice that there was anyone behind her until the Doctor spoke up. “Hello!”

The woman quickly looked around, looking outraged at the intruders. “Who are you? What're you doing here?” she demanded. She then caught sight of Amy. “And what're you wearing?”

“She dressed for Rio,” Danni explained as she skipped to the Doctor’s side. “Not Wales.”

“We're in Wales?” Amy asked, more than a little disappointed.

“Aren't you always?” Danni replied cheekily. Everything was either set in Wales or filmed in a quarry in Wales. It was a Doctor Who staple, one that she both teased and loved at the same time.

Once again, though, the Doctor couldn’t help but notice her words more than she probably meant him to. He took out his psychic paper and flashed it at the angry woman, tucking it back away before she could question what she’d seen. “Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science!” he said, dropping his voice low to sound more official. “New Ministry, quite big, just merged, lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What're you doing?”

“None of your business,” the woman replied sharply but the Doctor walked over to her machines anyway. He watched the readouts with a frown and the monitoring machinery beeped with each new reading. Lines fluctuated and writing scrawled down in green against the black background and none of it made any sense to Danni or Amy, so Amy walked away to lean against a forklift truck, bored. Danni stayed by the Doctor’s side anyway because that was where all the fun happened.

“Beeping is never good, is it?” Danni asked the Doctor, who shook his head absentmindedly.

“No...” he replied thoughtfully. “Where are you getting these readings from?” The woman was picking up a large metal piece of equipment from a hole in the middle of the room and back towards the monitoring equipment.

“Under the soil,” she told him. The Doctor quickly spun around, heading to the pile of dirt the equipment had been reading from. He crouched down, picking a handful up and letting it drop from his fingers. Danni crouched down next to him, trying not to get dirty.

“What are you doing when you do that?” she asked, genuinely curious. He tilted his head to look at her. “When you touch stuff, or lick it, or whatever? I’ve never understood and it’s never really explained.”

“Where are you from?” he asked her lowly as an older man came in through the doors.

“I told you; I was just with Ten,” she replied. “Don’t tell me my brain gave you a terrible memory.”

“The drill's up and running again,” the older man declared before spotting the new trio. “What's going on? Who are these people?”

“Amy, Danni and the Doctor,” Amy told him, pointing at each of them as she did. Danni looked up and waved at him with a smile.

“Hello!”

“We're not staying, are we, Doctor?!” Amy continued, looking at him pointedly but he didn't notice.

“Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?” he asked the pair. Danni wasn’t going to give him a proper answer until he could sit her down and explain. It wasn’t going to be easy, but now was not the time for it. She needed to be somewhere calm because it was going to devastate her.

“We don't know, it just appeared overnight,” the woman replied. Realising they weren't making it to Rio, Amy walked over and peered in the hole. The Doctor shot up, startling the pair.

“Good, right, you all need to get out of here very fast,” he told them as he headed to the monitor and typing on it. The woman seemed rather surprised that he seemed to know what he was doing.

“Why?” the woman asked.

“What's your name?” he asked in reply.

“Nasreen Chaudhry.”

“Look at the screens, Nasreen,” he told her. “Your readings. It's moving.”

“What is?” Nasreen asked, confused. The man walked over, demanding that the Doctor step away from the equipment but the Doctor, once again, paid him no attention.

Amy knelt down next to Danni as the hole began smoking gently. “Is it supposed to be doing that?” Amy asked her.

Danni shook her head. “Doubt it,” she replied before looking up. “Oi, Spaceman!” The Doctor’s head shot around, staring at her in what seemed to be surprise. She tried not to smile, although it was rather nice to surprise someone who was supposedly rather clever. “It’s not supposed to be doing this, is it?”

The Doctor saw the steam rising and shook his head, walking over. “Shouldn’t think so,” he agreed. “It’s shifting when it should be shifting!” he exclaimed, looking more and more bewildered as his brain went over every possibility. He couldn’t figure this out. Why couldn’t he figure this out?

He glanced at Danni, who was watching him with a beam on her face. “What?”

“I always loved it when you were being all clever,” she replied happily. He smirked, rather enjoying the attention for a moment before he shook his head. Now was the time to be serious, not to show off.

“What shouldn't?” Nasreen demanded, very confused and becoming more and more frustrated as she was being ignored.

As if it was listening to her, the whole room began to shake. Tools clattered to the ground and Danni and Amy shot off the floor, stepping away from the hole in the ground.

“The ground, the soil, the earth, moving, but how?” He rushed back over to the monitor but turned back to look at the hole. “Why?” he shouted at it.

“Earthquake?” Amy suggested.

“What's going on?” the older man asked. The Doctor ran back over to the hole, looking in every direction as he tried to figure out what was happening.

“Doubt it. Cos it's only happening under this room,” he told them all. None of this made any sense. It was as if something was trying to break its way upwards. But _what?_

He jumped back as the ground gave way and created another hole by his feet. Amy shrieked as another hole appeared by her, the room filling with holes as the ground appeared to slip away underneath them.

“It knows we're here,” Danni cried out, jumping away from the hole that appeared at her feet, landing next to Nasreen.

“The ground's attacking us,” the Doctor confirmed quickly.

“No, that’s not possible!” Nasreen said with a laugh of disbelief as she and Danni clung to each other, balancing on a very small piece of ground.

“Under the circumstances, I suggest... RUN!” the Doctor cried. He rushed towards the pair and reached out, grabbing Danni's hand. She in turn grabbed Nasreen's and they all headed for the door. The older man yelled as the ground he was running on collapsed under him and he became trapped knee deep in the soil. Amy stopped by him, not knowing what to do.

“Tony!” Nasreen shouted.

“Stay back, Amy! Stay away from the earth!” the Doctor warned her. She looked at him, obviously considering what he was saying, then back at Tony who was still stuck in the ground. It didn’t take much of a deliberation on her part; she couldn’t just leave him behind!

She jumped across a hole, grabbing his arm to help pull him out. “It's OK,” she told him gently. She then screamed as the ground opened up and swallowed her up to her thighs.

“Amy!” the Doctor shouted. He quickly jumped over the holes to get to her, Danni hesitating only for a moment before hopping over as well. It was just a dream, in the episode Amy was sucked down, but she couldn’t just stand back and watch it happen.

“Doctor, help me, something's got me!” Amy cried. The Doctor grabbed one arm, Danni grabbed the over and they tried their hardest to keep her out of the soil. Amy yelped as it pulled her down further. The Doctor stretched out on his stomach and reached for her. Danni skidded across the floor as she was pulled forward by the force of the ground eating Amy.

“The ground's got my legs,” Amy told him as she was pulled down to her waist. He held onto her hand tightly as Danni skidded forward again, her feet landing in some soil.

“I've got you,” he promised Amy.

Amy nodded, but still looked terrified. “Don't let go,” she begged.

“Never,” Danni swore with a reassuring smile.

“Doctor, what is it, why is it doing this?” Amy asked.

“Stay calm,” he replied instead. “Keep hold of my hand, don't let go.” He looked over his shoulder. Nasreen had managed to get Tony out of the soil and the pair were safe by the door. “Your drill, shut it down! Go! Now!” He commanded. Nasreen and Tony ran out of the room as Danni felt herself going down instead of across the floor as she struggled to keep a hold of Amy. She glanced down at her feet, now ankle deep in the soil. Her grip tightened on Amy; if they were going down they were going down together.

“Can you get me out?” Amy asked.

“Amy, try and stay calm,” the Doctor said as calmly as he could. “If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of our hands.”

“We're not going to let you go,” Danni added. Amy slipped from the Doctor's grip and sunk further down, pulling Danni down with her. The Doctor tumbled backwards but scrambled up and grabbed Amy's arm to stop her disappearing completely.

“Doctor, it's pulling me down, something's pulling me!” Amy cried, terrified.

“Stay calm.” he told her firmly. “Hold on, if they can just shut down the drill...”

“I can't hold on!” Amy exclaimed. She was pulled down so only her head and arms were showing above the soil. Danni glanced down again. She was now knee-deep. The Doctor hadn’t noticed and it was too late for him to save her as well. This wasn’t how the dream was supposed to go. She wanted to stay with the Doctor.

“What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there,” Amy sobbed, her eyes full of tears.

“Amy, concentrate. Don't you give up!” the Doctor almost pleaded with her.

“Tell Rory...” With a last bit of force, Amy was pulled under the Earth before she could finish her sentence.

“Amy!” Danni cried as she was quickly pulled under with her, disappearing from view.

“Danni, no!” the Doctor cried. He hadn’t even noticed that she had fallen into the soil. She hadn’t said a word, and now they were both gone. He shook his head. “No! No!”

He kept repeating the word as he fell forward into the soil, using his hands to try and dig through to the other side. There was nothing there, though, and his efforts were fruitless.

He slapped the ground hard, giving up angrily. He stood up, storming away from the hole for a moment before deciding he couldn’t just give up. He should have been paying more attention. She was so new and young, he had expected her to be more reserved. He should have known Danni would try anything to save Amy. Now whatever was down there had not only Amy, but his Danni-Girl as well.

He pulled out his sonic, pointing it down at the soil and setting it off in the hopes that something might change. Nothing did, though, and with no viable readings of anything his arm fell limply at his side. The buzzing of the screwdriver died off as Nasreen and Tony rushed back into the room, panting heavily.

They both looked at the man who was staring at the hole in the ground, looking like he was about to cry.

“Where are they?” Nasreen asked.

“They've gone,” he whispered sadly. “The ground took them.”

_~0~0~0~_

Deep underground, oblivious to all of the chaos and worry above them, Amy laid unconscious on the floor, her body being scanned by green humanoid creature. Danni groaned, her head pounding from being crushed on the way down and the creature froze as Danni shot up and stared, wide-eyed at her. The creature approached her, ready to pounce and Danni backed away.

“Oh no, no don't do that. Please, I'm not a threat,” she explained quickly. She held her hands up in surrender. “Please, my name is Danni, that is Amy and we're here to help.”

Her pleas didn’t stop the creature from advancing on her. It wore a white coat and seemed very intrigued with them both.

“I-I can name you,” Danni tried again. “Er…” She tapped her head, trying to get it to work. Her head was jumbled up from the trip down. “Er…” She pointed at the creature, eyes brightening in pride. “Silurian!” she exclaimed. “Homo Reptilia. I know you don’t think much of us apes, but to know that I must be _pretty_ smart and worth keeping awake, am I right?”

The creature continued its approach, obviously not impressed at all by Danni’s great intellect. She backed away slowly as she was quickly backed into a wall. As the Silurian reached out, syringe in hand, Danni felt properly scared once again. Scared about the dream advancing. She didn’t want it to suddenly change and to lose her time with the Doctor. But she really felt in danger, and she continued to beg even as the needle entered her arm and she fell unconscious.

_~0~0~0~_


	6. The Underground Escape

The first thing Amy was aware of when she woke up was the fact that she was trapped. She was encased in some sort of glass coffin, and it was definitely not something she appreciated. She remembered being pulled under the soil but not much more after that.

She looked through the glass, or at least tried to. It was frosted and carved with a swirly pattern that made seeing out of it pretty much impossible. All that did was highlight how she had no idea what was happening, or where she was. She started to panic.

“Let me out,” she cried, pounding on the glass to try and get anyone’s attention. “Let me out! Can anybody hear me?! I'm alive in here! Let me out!” Something moved at the edge of the glass and her eyes narrowed angrily. They were ignoring her. She _hated_ being ignored.

“I know you're out there!” she warned them. “My name is Amy Pond and you'd better get me the hell out of here or so help me I am going to kick your backside!” She gave the glass one last bang before lying against the back of the coffin, panting slightly from the effort. A distorted green figure with a white surgeon's mask leant over the glass and she suddenly wondered if it had been better when they were ignoring her. “Please?” she asked, much more timidly.

“Shh!” the creature hushed her and she glared upwards, suddenly rather angry again.

“Did you just shush me?” she demanded. “Did you just shush _me_?” She began to pound on the glass again. No one shushed her, no one.

From across the room, Danni looked up out of her own frosted pane of glass. She’d woken up the same as Amy, which had been the first clue that something wasn’t quite right. She’d panicked and demanded to be let out, much like Amy but with a lot more panic in her voice. It turned out that she _really_ wasn’t a fan of being trapped in a coffin. This dream really was bringing out a lot of things about herself. She was learning a lot.

Still, she remembered this part of the episode. Amy demanded to be let free then she was gassed to go back to sleep. Danni had a feeling that was going to happen to her regardless, so even though she couldn’t see anything, she tried to spot the other redhead.

“Amy, be quiet!” she called over.

“Danni?” Amy called, sounded both relieved and terrified. Danni rather liked having someone like Amy Pond be relieved she was there. “What’s happening?”

“We’ve be trapped underground by lizard people,” she said as quickly as she could. “The Doctor and Rory will be here soon. Just relax and try not to panic at what happens next.”

“What happens next?” she repeated as gas began to filter into the coffin around her. Immediately she started panicking. “No no no, don't do that,” she begged. “No gas! No gas!”

Danni tried to stay calmer, not copying Amy’s actions of banging on the glass. Her dreams were realistic, it would seem, but she knew how they always went and she tried to cling onto it even as she shook. Tear filled her eyes and gas filled her lungs as everything began to dull around her. She wasn’t crying because she wasn’t scared. She wasn’t scared because the Doctor _always_ came. She knew the episode and she knew her mind well. The Doctor would save her. The Doctor _always_ saved her.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni’s head felt incredibly heavy. Her brain seemed to be rebooting and she couldn’t quite work out what was going on. All she knew was that this dream had stopped being fun a little while ago and she _really_ hoped that Claire woke her up soon.

She opened her eyes and saw herself no longer in the glass container she had been placed in, but rather staring across what appeared to be a rather dark, metal room. She looked to her left and saw Amy strapped to a similar examination board like she was. She groaned, realising that she was also strapped down. She struggled slightly but there wasn’t much movement.

“Don’t struggle,” a voice said in a Welsh accent and she looked to her right. There was a man next to her, his shirt undone.

She looked at the long pink scar that ran right down the middle of his torso and began to shake her head. “Nope, not a chance,” she said firmly. “This is—” she grunted as she pulled against the metal restraints holding her down, “-this is _my_ dream and I am not being dissected. Let me go!”

“How did you know that?” he asked. She opened her mouth to explain, but the ‘whoosh’ of the door opening had both of their attentions pulling towards it. In stepped the same Silurian that had knocked her out. He had a mask over his face. He didn’t pause in his path as he picked up his scalpel and headed towards them.

Next to her, Amy began to rouse from her own state of unconsciousness. She immediately began to struggle.

“Don’t struggle,” the man repeated to her. She looked over at the pair. “Close your eyes and don’t struggle.”

She looked surprised to see him, but her gaze shot to Danni. “What’s happening?” she asked her friend. “Where are we? Why can’t I move my body?”

“See our friend there?” Danni asked, nodding towards the Silurian. “He’s wants to dissect us. But he won’t, it’s fine. The Doctor’s already here so he won’t be long.”

Amy tried to take comfort in the fact the Doctor was coming for them, but the word ‘dissect’ didn’t exactly fill her with much confidence that everything was going to be alright. She turned to the Silurian. “Stay away from us!” she demanded. “Don’t you come near us with that!”

The Silurian paid no attention to her, surprising them both by turning to the left and stepping towards Danni. Her eyes widened slightly. This wasn’t right. He was supposed to go to Amy. That was how the show happened. Why was it changing?

“Oi! You stay away from her!” Amy continued to shout. “Hey, I’m talking to you! Leave her alone.”

The Silurian pulled his mask down as he looked Danni over and her eyes narrowed angrily. The rising panic in her chest, the shouts from Amy, were making everything seem like it was really happening and she did _not_ appreciate that. Her palms were even going sweaty and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“Don’t you dare,” she warned the Silurian. “Cause I’m gonna kick your arse if you come any closer.”

Instead of reacting to any of the noises the humans made, he turned to the device hanging from ceiling.

“From the clothing,” he started, “the human female appears to be more resistant to the cold than the male.”

“Actually, I’m rather cold. If I had known I was coming to Wales I would have grabbed a jacket,” she rambled out. “Have you ever been to Wales? Very wet, but quite pretty. You should- You should visit sometime.”

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a smaller device with two buttons. He pressed one and the restraints clamped down harder on her wrists.

“Leave her alone! You’ve got me!” the Welsh man cried, being rather amazing and brave by trying to pull the attention back onto him.

“Decontamination complete. Commencing dissection,” the Silurian declared. Danni shook her head, pressing back onto the board she was strapped to. The scalpel started to glow and her heart felt lie it was going to burst out of her chest.

“Please don’t do this,” she begged, terrified. “I just want to wake up. Please.”

Amy clamped her eyes shut, turning away as the scalpel went through Danni’s dress and cut into her. “The Doctor is going to kill you,” she warned. “When he gets here and sees what you’re doing to her, he will kill you.”

Danni groaned heavily, suddenly feeling rather woozy. It didn’t hurt as she thought it would – she assumed that had something to do with the decontamination process - but it felt like a sharp, heavy weight was pressing down where he was cutting. The scalpel must have had something else on it because with each little drag across her she felt her energy draining.

“Please…” she whimpered. She didn’t scream, she just let her eyes fall shut. She didn’t want this anymore. This was, by far, the worst dream she’d ever had. It was like being in her own little horror movie that had disguised itself as a romp through Doctor Who.

“Female is less vocal than the male when it comes to pain, this may be due to less nerves on the outer skin,” the Silurian narrated. Danni could feel his hands on her, probably _in_ her, but she didn’t dare look. “First visual examination concludes that while most organs are very similar...”

_Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested. Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested._

Danni almost sobbed in happiness as he was interrupted by the tannoy above them. He paused, sighed heavily, and reached over to turn off his recording device. With another long swipe up her with the scalpel, he closed her back up again.

She only had a moment, so she reached into his pocket while he was distracted by cleaning up the mess he’d made of her. She grabbed the device he’d used to lock her down with and clenched her hand around it until he had left the room.

“Yeah! And stay out!” Amy shouted at him as if she had made him leave. Danni looked down at her hand, seeing the device she was grasping and smiled slightly. That had actually been a rather good move on her part considering she hadn’t ever pickpocketed anything before. She pressed one of the buttons but nothing happened, so she tried the other and her restraints came undone.

She groaned as she raised her arm, pressing the same button again whilst pointing the device at Amy. Unfortunately, nothing happened again so, with another heavy groan, she lifted herself off the board and stumbled over to Amy. The button worked once she was in close proximity to the other redhead, who quickly helped hold her up the moment she was free.

“Are you okay?” Amy asked her as she helped Danni over to the Welsh man. She sounded very concerned, which Danni appreciated.

“Not the best dream I’ve had, I’ll admit,” she replied as she unlocked him. “Plus, have you seen my dress? If he’d gone any higher I’d may as well be naked.”

Amy seemed to know that she was trying to be funny to hide her confusion and pain so she rolled her eyes to play along. “It’s just a dress.”

“It’s a nice dress,” Danni murmured to herself, thinking about how the previous Doctor had seemed to like it.

“How did you get that?” the Welsh man asked, amazed.

“You never picked a lizard man's pocket?” Amy replied for Danni. “Come on, before he gets back.” The exited the room before heading into a corridor, each of them looking around in case they were spotted. The hallway was a strange mix of metal and overgrowth and gave no sign of where it was leading to.

“That creature, do you think it was an alien? Any more of them do you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?” the man asked them.

“They didn’t invade Earth, they were already here,” Danni explained. “Silurians were here before humans. They’ve got a colony down here, if I remember correctly.”

“How do you know that?” Amy asked. Danni shrugged.

“The Doctor told me,” she offered as an explanation. “That’s where I normally get all of my sci-fi knowledge from. I was never a fan of Star Wars, or Trek for that matter. The Doctor was pretty much it.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Urgh, even when you’re young you’re both gross,” she grumbled.

Her words confused Danni. Everyone talked about her like she had been around before. Was that some strange dream continuity, or was it because they _did_ know her? She didn’t understand and, in her weakened state, she didn’t really want to question it. She didn’t want to know anything. She didn’t want to do anything, let alone following the episode through to the end. She wanted to go home.

Amy paused, causing Danni to stop, to look at a door in the mossy wall. The Welsh man turned to look back at what was holding them up.

 “I wonder where this leads,” Amy mused excitedly, shooting the man a grin before leading Danni to it.

“Maybe it's a way out of here,” the man replied just as hopefully as he joined the pair. There was a panel to the side of the door and Amy placed her hand on it. It immediately activated, showing off what appeared to be some readings of the thing inside.

Instead of opening, the lights on the other room flashed into life. The man took a step closer, almost like he was trying to get through. “Oh, my God, no,” he breathed.

“What is it?” Amy asked, concerned by the look of horror on his face.

“It's my son. It's Elliot. What've they done to him?” he cried as he shook on the door to try and get it open. He backed away and Amy moved closer to look inside at the young boy stood in the middle. He was attached to wires and stared outwards, but it was obvious he couldn’t see anything.

“No! He's in there! We have to get him out!” the man continued. “Elliot! Elliot, it's Dad!” He tried to panel but it flashed a deep red.

“ _Access denied. Unauthorised genetic imprint_ ,” it told him in a calm, automated voice and he breathing picked up in panic.

Danni used as much strength as she could to grab his arm before he could try to open the door again. “You’re not going to get in,” she told him firmly. “Elliot is fine. He probably has no idea that he’s even down here. None of us are Silurian so we can’t get in and we could cause him actual damage if we try.”

“That's my boy in there!” the man protested and Amy nodded.

“These screens,” Amy explained, “they're monitoring something. I think they're vital signs - heartbeats, pulses. Why else would he be wired up? He's still alive.”

It took a moment but the man nodded. “All right,” he agreed. We find weapons, get that creature from the lab and force it to release Elliot, yeah?”

Amy just nodded, agreeing to get him moving again. “Yeah, trust me we'll get him out.”

She quickly ushered him around and down the hallway. Amy shared a look with Danni, who wasn’t looking the best she ever had. “Are you sure you should be moving?” she asked quietly. “Maybe we should hide you?”

“I’ll take my chances, thanks,” Danni replied. “The Doctor turns up soon.” She frowned. “I think.”

Amy didn’t seem too bothered by her words, instead they continued through the hallways of the underground city, coming across rows of glass chambers again and again, as well as a couple of beautiful views over the buildings below.

“These chambers are all over the city,” Amy commented as they headed down yet another corridor. There was a door at one end and they took the moment to stop and let Danni rest. The man, Mo, seemed to be holding up better than Danni was considering he had also been cut open. But, Danni assumed, it was because he wasn’t just sealed up for the examination to continue on at a later time.

Amy spotted a sensor by some of the glass chamber and, with the curiosity of a small child, placed her hand in it. Immediately the two chambers lit up and she and Mo jumped back, alarmed. Inside were two Silurians, with masks and guns, stood to attention.

“Uh! Turn it off quick!” Mo hissed. Amy did as she was told and the chamber went dark. When the Silurians didn’t break out and attack the Welsh man frowned.

“They're not moving,” he stated.

“Maybe they're asleep,” Amy suggested. “Let's have another look.” She reached into the sensor, leaving her hand in it longer this time.

“No, Amy, don't!” Mo cried but the lights came on and nothing happened once again. The doors on the chambers slid open and they still didn’t move. Taking a chance, she stepped inside and began to circle on the Silurians. “Amy, what are you doing? Get out of there!”

“They’re not asleep, they’re in stasis,” Danni told them. “We need to find the Doctor, they’re not going to be any use unless we wake them all up and that seems like a bad idea.”

Amy ignored her, bending down to take a look at the round, stone discs that the Silurians were all stood on. She gave it a small tap. “I wonder what these are,” she mused. “The Doctor would know. The Doctor always knows.”

Danni didn’t have the strength to argue that she actually knew what they were. She, really, didn’t have the strength to go find the Doctor either but she knew that, until she woke up, that was always the best course of action. Everyone was at their safest when they were with him.

And she was going to wake up. She knew she was.

Instead of saying anything, she directed Amy’s gaze upwards with a point. The companion grinned, connecting the dots. “Wait... I've got it,” she said. “It's how they came up to the surface. Some sort of powered transport discs. It's our way out of here.”

“Amy…” Danni groaned weakly. “Seriously, I just wanna go home.”

“Right, sorry,” Amy apologised, standing up. Mo looked over the creatures one last time, grinning as he saw the strange guns they were both holding. “Even better, weapons.” He grabbed one. “Come on, now we can fight back.” Amy hesitated a moment then took the other one.

“There's only two,” she pointed out.

“I don't want a gun, thank you very much,” Danni replied. “I don't even think I could lift one right now, let alone shoot it.”

Amy stepped out, using the sensor to close the doors again. “Which way now?” Mo asked. With no other way to go, Amy wrapped an arm around Danni again.

“Door at the end,” she said decisively.

“Are you sure?” he replied.

“Nope!”

Danni was starting to walk slower, she knew she was. Whatever energy she’d had making it this far was running out and she didn’t want to be the reason that they didn’t find the Doctor in time. She had to keep the episode going as planned, otherwise how would she make it to the end and wake up? She hadn’t even got to spend this part of the dream with the Doctor, which would have been the part she would have rather done. But, as she glanced up at Amy, at least the red-head seemed to be rather happy to see her.

The doors at the end of the hallway opened, leading to a balcony that overlooked a large room below. A room full of lines upon lines of Silurians, all in uniform and all ready to be awakened once the time was right.

“Wow,” Mo breathed.

Amy nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“We don't stand a chance.”

The Silurians below them didn’t matter. The ones that had the Doctor and Nasreen did. Danni couldn’t remember where they went after they came down in the TARDIS, all she could remember was that Amy and Mo would find them. So she had to get them to find them.

“We need to find the Doctor,” she stated, barely paying the Silurians a glance. “I need to get to him so I can get home.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Even when we’re in the middle of a lizard man uprising—”

“ _Silurian_ ,” Danni corrected.

“ _Silurian_ uprising, you can’t keep away from each other, can you?” They turned and headed out the door again. “It’s sickening.”

“Oi,” Danni replied shortly. “My dream, my injury and _my_ Doctor. I’m not an idiot. He’s my ticket home.”

Amy couldn’t help but think she wasn’t talking about the TARDIS. “I’m sure he’ll help if he can,” she said airily. “Or, at the very least, patch you up again.”

_~0~0~0~_

“No, no, I need to stop,” Danni suddenly declared. She came to a halt before Amy and Mo did, leaning against a wall. “And I need to talk to the manager of this bloody dream. I’m not one for complaining, but this is ridiculous.” Amy let out a snort of a laugh and she glared at the other woman. “What’s that for?”

“Not one to complain?” Amy repeated. “Seriously?”

Danni didn’t reply, feeling insulted that her own brain was questioning her. The pain was just getting worse, or she was coping with it less, she wasn’t sure. Either way she felt like she had been split in two and put together again. Which, technically, is what happened but why did she _feel_ it? Why was everything feeling so real? She knew it was a dream, wasn’t that something she could control once she knew about it? Shouldn’t her pain have gone away? Shouldn’t the Doctor appear, take her somewhere pretty and declare his undying love for her? That was how her dreams normally went. Not like this. Not so… well, like reality.

She slid down to the floor and Amy joined her. “Sorry,” she said softly. Danni smiled at her, feeling a little guilty that she’d made her look concerned.

“Don’t worry about me, sweetie,” she replied. “Just give me a moment, then we’ll continue forwards, yeah?”

“We don’t even know where we're going, how are we supposed to find the Doctor?” Amy asked her.

“He's down here somewhere in the courtroom. Can't miss it,” Danni replied, closing her eyes. She took a couple of deep breaths. Maybe if she fell asleep here then she’d wake up back home.

“How do you know?” Mo asked, suspicious.

“She can see the future,” Amy explained and Danni opened her eyes to look at her, baffled. Was that how the dream was playing her love of _Doctor Who?_ It was creative, she had to give herself that.

Mo didn’t protest, but that was more than likely because it wasn’t the strangest thing he’d heard or seen since he had been sucked into the soil. He just kept an eye out, gun at the ready, just in case they were ambushed.

“Why's he in a courtroom?” Amy asked before taking a sharp breath. She looked down at Danni. “Is he appealing to get us out or something?” she asked hopefully.

“Nah,” Danni drawled out. “They're going to execute him and that lovely Nasreen lady.”

“Wait, _what_?”

“Oh, calm down. It's fine. We interrupt them, it's all peachy,” Danni said with a wave of her hand. “He should actually be getting there soon.” With a groan, she slowly stood up, using Amy to push herself off the ground. “I can't remember really, this isn't my favourite episode if I'm honest.”

“Excuse me?” Amy protested, outraged. “Not your favourite? How dare you?!”

_~0~0~0~_

Restac and Malokeh, the military commander and the head science officer respectively of the Silurian tribe, strode purposefully into the state courtroom. They were closely followed by the four soldiers Restac had awoken with her who were bringing in the two apes that had been caught.

“You're not authorised to do this!” Malokeh protested.

“I'm authorised to protect the safety of our species while they sleep,” Restac retorted firmly, angrily. She was worried about her sister, everyone could see that, and it was coming out in a hatred for the humans that they had decided were attacking their home.

The Doctor and Nasreen looked around the stately room. There were rows of benches lining each wall, with all the decoration seemingly made of gold. It would have been lovely if they hadn’t been sentenced to death.

“Oh, lovely place, very gleaming,” the Doctor said anyway, enjoying the look. He’d been in worse situations than this. He just needed to keep them all talking until he could convince Restac that killing them wasn’t the best idea. Then he could get out, find Danni and Amy, and then deal with the sudden appearance of a very ancient but unknown - to the humans – species.

All in a day’s work, he should think. And definitely something that would impress Danni.

Not that he was trying to.

“This is our court,” Restac explained, “and our place of execution.”

The Doctor grinned happily as, from the side, Amy Pond appeared. She was holding a gun, granted, but he did love being rescued from time to time.

“Let them go!” she demanded, aiming her gun straight at Restac.

“Amy Pond, there’s a girl you can rely on!” he said to Nasreen before his smile faltered slightly. “Where’s Danni?”

“Here.” The other red-head appeared from around the corner, looking rather pale and shaking slightly. His frown only deepened.

“Something’s wrong…” he said quietly. Her dress was torn as well. She had been hurt

“You’re covered both ways, so don’t try anything clever, buster,” Amy continued. The Doctor and Nasreen both glanced behind them and saw a man stood there, also aiming a gun into the room.

“Mo!” Nasreen cried happily at the sight of her friend’s son-in-law. That explained that, then. The Doctor turned his attention back into the room to see Restac advancing on them both.

“Now let them go, or I shoot,” Amy warned as Restac hissed. “I'm warning you!” Restac grabbed the gun out of Amy's hand, chucking her into Danni and sending them both to the ground. Danni landed with a yelp, followed by a groan because landing _really_ hurt.

“Don’t you touch her,” the Doctor snarled. He wasn’t sure what had happened to Danni, but whatever made her make such a pained noise can’t have been good. He should have been paying more attention to her. She was so new and she was a danger to herself because she didn’t seem to care.

Restac didn’t pay him attention. “And you,” she commanded, pointing the gun she’d wrestled off Amy at Mo. He reluctantly handed his gun over to one of the soldiers.

Malokeh, who had stood and watched for long enough, held his hands up. “All right, Restac. You've made your point.”

She obviously wasn’t happy at being addressed in such a manner. She let the gun hang at her side as she approached him. “This is now a military tribunal,” she declared. “Go back to your laboratory, Malokeh.”

One of the soldiers jabbed Malokeh in the back, telling him to leave. He looked to Restac, ready to protest but she hissed at him at the challenge. With a glance over at Danni and Amy on the floor, he shook his head. “This isn’t the way,” he said to her before leaving.

“Prepare them for execution,” Restac commanded. The soldiers did as she commanded, tying them all to the large pillars at the end of the room.

“OK, sorry, as rescues go, didn't live up to its potential,” Amy apologised as the Doctor was tied up on the pillar next to hers. Nasreen had been the first to be tied up and, as the Doctor was strapped down they tied Mo to her left.

“I'm glad you're OK,” he replied sincerely. He was. He had been worried about the pair of them.

Danni groaned loudly as she was slammed into the pillar on the Doctor's left, tied tightly. “Oh, you wouldn’t have known how to even shoot that gun,” she teased lightly. The Doctor strained his neck to look around and down at her but immediately looked away, blushing lightly.

Danni frowned. “What’s up with you?”

“I... I can see into your dress,” he stuttered.

She looked down. The slit that had been put in made the fabric sit funny on her and, just as he said, it now was much more open on the top than it had been originally.

“Oh for the love of...” She looked over at Restac, glaring angrily. “I want compensation for this dress!” she demanded. “It's a very nice dress! A blue box gave me this dress, I'll have you know!” She paused for a moment. “And I had a cardigan!”

“Silurian, though?” Amy interrupted, sensing a rant coming on.

The Doctor frowned. “Yes, actually, how did you…” He shook his head. “Right, stupid question,” he admitted, knowing the woman next to him had probably told her. “They occupied the planet before the humans,” he explained. “Now they want it back.”

“After they’ve wiped out the human race,” Nasreen added.

Amy turned away, looking at the lizard people with a new sense of dread. “Right, preferred it when I didn’t know, to be honest.”

“We all did,” Danni agreed. She turned her attention to the soldiers. “Can you loosen this just a little, please?” she asked them. “I’d like to be comfortable if I’m going to be shot.” She got no response as the soldiers all lined up in front of then, ready to be their firing squad when commanded to be.

“Why are they waiting? What do you think they're going to do with us?” Nasreen asked. Restac stood in front of them, between the soldiers but faced the opposite way. A green projection appeared in mid-air of the inside of the church above, looking upwards at the ceiling. Rory, Tony and Ambrose were huddled together, looking surprised.

“Who is the ape leader?” Restac demanded. The humans on the other side scrambled around but didn't answer, annoying her “Who speaks for the apes?” she snapped. After a little more conferring, Rory approached his end of the projection, becoming larger as he did.

“ _I speak for the... humans. Some of us, anyway,_ ” he stuttered out. Danni giggled slightly.

“Oh look it's Rory. Roman Rory. Rory, Rory Rory...” She turned her head to look up at the Doctor. He was starting to look a little out of focus, but she didn’t mind too much. “He looks so big, like a giant!” she whispered.

The Doctor frowned, still concerned about her. The pain was obviously going to her head. “What happened?” he asked her gently, hopeful that he’d get an answer out of her.

She smiled brightly. “Oh, I just got a little bit dissected,” she explained. She whispered too, because he was being quiet. “Can I tell you something, though?” She pressed onto the tips of her toes the best she could. “It’s not much fun, being in this episode. It really hurts. Mo doesn’t seem to mind, but I do. Just don’t tell anyone, alright?”

He was still frowning deeply. “Dissected?” he repeated, trying desperately hard not to explode in anger. In fact, Danni recognised his calm tone.

“Oh, you’re angry, aren’t you?” she stated. “Angry, angry, angry…”

“Do you understand who we are?” Restac asked the projection of the humans harshly, interrupting their moment and causing Danni’s attention to flutter away from the Doctor and to Rory.

“ _Sort of. A bit. Not really_ ,” Rory admitted awkwardly.

“We have ape hostages,” Restac told him.

Rory immediately ran towards whatever screen he was looking at, towards his girlfriend and friends. “ _Doctor! Amy!_ ” Rory cried, spotting them on the pillars.

“And me, don't forget me!” Danni cried back, wanting to wave but being unable to. Being tied up really wasn't as fun as she had been told it could be.

A woman and Tony also joined Rory. “ _Mo! Mo, are you OK?_ ” the woman asked, who Danni vaguely remembered being his wife. She really hadn't liked this episode so much, mainly because of the ending. She frowned, what happened at the end? She couldn't remember, her head was so jumbled.

“I'm fine, love!” Mo told her. “I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!” She held her hand to her chest as she began crying in relief.

“ _Amy! I thought I'd lost you!_ ” Rory told her.

Although rather relieved to see him, Amy rolled her eyes like she didn’t understand his relief. “What, cause I was sucked into the ground? You're so clingy.”

“Tony Mack!” Nasreen called happily, seeing the older man.

“ _Having fun down there?_ ” He asked.

“Not to interrupt,” the Doctor said, completely interrupting. “But just a quick reminder to stay calm.”

“Show me Alaya. Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends,” Restac demanded, “one by one.”

“ _No!_ ” Mo's wife cried out angrily.

“ _Ambrose..._ ” Rory warned, the Doctor's eying them suspiciously.

“Steady now, everyone,” the Doctor said slowly, trying to calm the human’s down before they did something stupid.

Danni sighed next to him. “Something bad's happened, hasn't it?” she muttered and the Doctor twisted, reaching around to grab her hand. Her brain was too befuddled to realise that he’d done it without asking and that she didn’t really care.

“Nothing yet, Danni-Girl,” he told her and she smiled, her eyes slightly glazed. He had to get her off that pillar so he could check her out properly.

“ _Ambrose, stop it!_ ” Tony warned his daughter as he pulled her back. She shrugged out of his grip and glared at him.

“ _Get off me, Dad!_ ” she demanded before she turned back to the screen. “ _We didn't start this!_ ”

“Let Rory deal with this Ambrose, eh?” the Doctor told her nervously. If she didn’t calm down she her behaviour was going to threaten everyone’s safety.

“ _We're not doing what you say any more. Now, give me back my family!_ ” Ambrose demanded. She and Restac stared each other down as everybody watched on tensely.

“No,” Restac declared firmly. “Execute the girl.” The soldiers move over and untied Amy as she struggled, everyone protesting in the court and in the church on the surface. Rory pushed Ambrose out of the way as he tried to get closer to the screen.

“ _No! No, wait!_ ” Rory begged.

“Rory!” Amy cried, terrified.

“ _She's not speaking for us!_ ” Rory tried to explain but the soldiers moved her to the centre of the room.

“There's no need for this...” the Doctor tried in a panic, struggling to get free so he could help his friend. If he didn’t calm the situation down Amy was going to die. He couldn’t let that happen. They were all under his care and he’d failed enough already.

“Fire!” Restac cried. Amy closed her eyes at the command, expecting to die.

“ _Stop!_ ” a male voice cried and Restac spun to see Malokeh entering with another Silurian in fine robes. He was clearly older than Malokeh and the look on Restac’s face suggested that he was important.

“Oh yeah, that guy,” Danni giggled, her brain finally catching up to the moment. She remembered this. Restac wasn’t happy at _all_. “I forgot about him.”

“You can't expect to remember everything,” the Doctor replied quietly.

“I wish I could...” she trailed off with a groan. “Okay, the pain’s just pain now. Can they let us go, please?”

He shushed her gently. “Not long, Danni-Girl,” he promised.

“You want to start a war, while the rest of us sleep, Restac?” the elder Silurian asked.

“The apes are attacking us!” Restac protested.

“You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them,” he commanded. She stood silently for a moment, regarding him and weighing up her options.

“I do not recognise your authority at this time, Eldane,” she snarled. He sighed and held his hands out at his side.

“Well, then, you must shoot me,” Eldane replied, as if resigned to his own death. Her eyes widened slightly in shock and she hissed, staring him down. Then, knowing she wouldn't harm him, she stormed up to Malokeh.

“You woke him to undermine me,” she accused.

“We're not monsters. And neither are they,” Malokeh replied calmly, looking at the group chained up behind them.

“What is it about apes you love so much?” she pressed. “Mmm?”

“While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself,” he explained.

“We used to hunt apes for sport,” she spat out. “When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet.”

“Shush now, Restac,” Eldane commanded. “Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you.”

She walked over, face close. “You'll need me,” she warned. “Then we'll see.”

Eldane quickly gave the order for the prisoners to be released, for which Danni was incredibly grateful. As soon as she was released, though, her knees gave way and the room span slightly. It felt like she was slightly out of sync with the rest of her body, and for a moment she forgot she was in a dream. It felt so real that she clung to the Doctor tightly when he caught her.

“I think I need to sit down,” she told him and he helped her sit on one of the many benches at the side of the room.

He crouched down in front of her, shooting her a kind smile that helped her feel more reassured than she probably should have. “I’m just going to take a look,” he said softly.

“I don't think you can do anything, though,” she replied.

“Hey, I’m the Doctor, aren’t I?” he countered. “It’s what I do.”

“Yeah, a Doctor of cheese making,” she retorted. His brows furrowed slightly and once again he had to wonder how she knew so much after only being there for such a short amount of time.

He wanted to ask her. He wanted to use her weakened state to gently probe her for information, but instead his concern won over. He gently parted the slit in the middle of her dress, tracing his finger lightly up the scar until he reached her ribs. She squirmed slightly at his touch, uncomfortable at the feeling.

He gently closed the dress again. “It's fine,” he promised. “It's been healed properly but the painkillers have probably worn off.” With another soft smile he stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was just so young. “Can you remember anything about it?”

She could see the concern on his face and realised that she really didn’t want to be the source of it. “Not a thing,” she lied and he nodded, standing up.

“You just rest. When we get back to the TARDIS I'll stop it hurting,” he instructed before he placed a kiss on top of her head.

He then turned to the thing he could actually make a difference with at that particular point. He stepped into the middle of the room, holding his sonic screwdriver aloft. “Right, first things first.” He buzzed the air and the green projection reappeared, showing Rory’s back as he talked to the two other humans.

“Rory!” the Doctor cried and the man spun around, almost alarmed. “Hello!”

“ _Where's Amy?_ ” he asked worriedly, his only thoughts at that moment on his wife.

“She's fine,” the Doctor promised. He moved out of the way showing Amy stood slightly awkwardly “Look, here, she is.”

Rory didn’t look any more relaxed, but he did sound it. “ _Oh, thank God._ ”

“Keeping you on your toes!” Amy told him before moving out of the way of the monitor.

“No time to chat,” the Doctor continued. “Listen, you need to get down here... Go to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurians are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble-technology. It's how they travel and frankly it's pretty cool. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash! Hurry up!”

He didn’t wait for a response, turning the transmission off before turning to look back into the room. His eyes darted to Danni first, who looked pale but otherwise not too bad. She seemed to be coming back to herself now that she wasn’t tied up, which was a blessing. Amy and Nasreen had taken a seat at the large table in the middle of the room, both of them also grateful for being free.

“Right, right,” the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. He had a lot to work on and not a lot of time to do it. He quickly ushered Eldane over to the table before he looked over them all. “I’d say you’ve got a fair bit to talk about.”

Eldane looked up at him. “How so?”

“You both want the planet. You both have a genuine claim to it,” the Doctor replied.

Eldane looked positively confused. Malokeh had explained how he was different from the humans and yet he was talking as if he was part of them. “Are you authorised to negotiate on behalf of humanity?”

“Me? No! But they are!” He motioned to Danni first with a flourish then to Nasreen and Amy, who stared back in shock.

“What?!” Nasreen exclaimed.

“No, we're not!” Amy added.

“Or me, for that matter,” Danni chipped in, pushing herself up and walking over to the table. She was feeling a little better, but if she was going to stay with the Doctor she needed to not get caught up with Amy’s part of the episode again. Especially since it hadn’t panned out too well the last time.

“Course you are!” he told them, walking to stand behind Amy and Nasreen. “Amy Pond, Danielle Fielding and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet!” He placed a hand on each of sitting women’s shoulders. “Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors.” He grinned at Amy. This was _so_ much better than Rio. Well, apart from the dissection of Danni. That could have gone better. “Come on, who has more fun than us?” He moved to the opposite end of the table and Amy stood up and walked over to him.

“Is this what happens, in the future, the planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?” she asked him excitedly. Nasreen frowned and stood up as well.

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. The Doctor looked at her with a slightly guilty look on his face.

“Oh, Nasreen, sorry, probably worth mentioning at this stage, Amy, Danni and I travel in time, a bit.” He held up his fingers to show a little bit, just in case she didn't understand.

“Anything else?” she asked, crossing her arms, annoyed she hadn't been told that little bit of information. The Doctor and Amy shared a look and he paced away, putting his thoughts together in his head.

“There are fixed points through time, where things must always stay the way they are,” he started. “This is not one of them. This is an opportunity, a temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today, will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you. Here. Now. So do good. For humanity, and for Earth.”

“Right. No pressure there, then.” Amy retorted with a roll of her eyes. She didn’t protest further, however, and sat back down at the table.

“We can't share the planet. Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap!” Nasreen pointed out.

“Come on. Be extraordinary,” he tempted with a grin.

Her eyes narrowed, annoyed that his words were working on her. It was what had convinced her to believe him in the first place. “Oh...you...” she stuttered out before sitting down as well.

“OK.” The Doctor slapped his hand on the table as if he was banging a gavel. “Bringing things to order - the first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian,” he motioned between the two species, “is now in session.” He chuckled in delight. “Ha! Never said that before, that's fab! Carry on!” He pointed at Mo. “Now, Mo, let's go and get your son.” He walked over to Mo and the pair headed towards the door.

“Wait, I'm coming too,” Danni called out, walking as fast as she could to catch up to the two men.

“No, you've got to stay too,” the Doctor told her. “Humans and Silurians. You can do your part just as much as they can. Probably better.”

She shook her head then grabbed his hand. “It's not _my_ Earth, is it?” she pointed out. “I'm coming with you and that is final Spaceman.” He opened his mouth to protest but she had a point, and how could he resist it when she took hold of his hand like that? With no prompting at all?

He smiled at her. “Oh, alright. Come along Danni-Girl,” he agreed and she smiled brightly at him. They began heading out the door. “Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors, shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it,” he told the pair as they headed down the hallway towards Elliot.

_~0~0~0~_

“Doctor, really, I need to tell you something,” Danni insisted as they followed Mo to where Elliot had been stored. She had been trying to get his attention as they’d headed to find the young boy, but he’d been too interested in talking to Mo about the possible new treaty between the humans and the Silurians.

“Not now,” the Doctor dismissed and she growled in frustration.

“It's about Alaya!” she cried. He paused in his steps then turned to look at her.

“Alaya?” he repeated. She nodded and opened her mouth to explain about the dead Silurian when Mo cried out, seeing where his son was being held. Malokeh was stood outside the booth checking the vital signs of the young boy. Danni stopped slightly back, not really feeling comfortable near the Silurian who had cut her open, even though she felt silly being scared of a figment of her own imagination. Well, technically someone else created the character, but... Oh it was too complicated. The Doctor squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that she was safe. It did help, but she still didn’t move any closer.

“I was just checking the young human was stable,” the scientist explained.

“We're here to get him out,” the Doctor explained. Malokeh nodded. The Doctor moved over to look at him through the window on the door, seeing him suspended there. “Elliot, there you are,” he breathed, relieved that the boy was okay. Malokeh began using the panel next to the door to revive him, pushing his thumb against it.

“If you've harmed him in any way…” Mo warned, still slightly freaked out by the entire affair.

“Of course not!” Malokeh promised before turning to the Doctor. “I only store the young.”

“But why?” the Doctor asked. Malokeh smiled widely.

“I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate. So I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface,” he told him passionately. He couldn’t help but look upwards, as if he was imagining what it was like. A little like the Little Mermaid, Danni realised. It instantly made her forgive the Silurian a little bit.

“You've been down here, working by yourself, all alone?” the Doctor asked with a hint of a grin.

“My family, through the millennia...” Malokeh told him with a tiny little smile, like he could tell the Doctor was slightly impressed with the dedication. “For the last 300 years, just me.” He turned to face Mo. “I never meant to harm your child or your mate.” The Doctor blushed faintly, as he was addressed. “I just wanted to know more about the humans I'd watch grow.”

“Malokeh, if you hadn't cut up my Danni-Girl I'd rather love you,” the Doctor placed his fist on top of Malokeh's gloved one. With a smile Malokeh tapped the top of the Doctor’s a couple times with his other.

The panel on the wall beeped and Malokeh turned to look at it. “It's safe. We can wake him,” he said happily. The scientist pressed the large button on the panel and the door slid open. He stepped into the room and removed the machinery from Elliot. “Come,” he told Mo, beckoning him forward. They swapped places as Elliot began blinking, waking up from his stasis.

“Elliot? Ell, it's Dad,” Mo asked, trying to get a response out of his son.

“What...? Dad!” the boy exclaimed happily and they hugged, Mo clinging to his son, so happy he had finally gotten him back.

“You're safe now,” he promised as he let Elliot go.

“Where are we?”

“Well, I've got to be honest with you, son,” Mo replied. “We're in the centre of the Earth... and there are lizard men.” Elliot looked over at the doorway where the Doctor, Danni and Malokeh stood. Malokeh waved slightly, grinning widely, obviously ecstatic to interact with the human child.

“Wow,” Elliot breathed, impressed. The Doctor gave Danni's hand another squeeze before stepping into the room, wringing his hands slightly.

“Elliot, I'm sorry,” he apologised. “I took my eye off you.” Elliot studied him for a moment and, seeing his sincerity, smiled.

“It's OK. I forgive you,” he replied. He held his hand out and with a huge grin the Doctor shook it. Mo patted his son's back, so proud of his forgiving and accepting nature and the trio stepped out of the room into the hallway. The Doctor grabbed Danni's hand and they set off down the hallway back towards the courtroom.

“You go on, Doctor.” The Doctor paused to look back at Malokeh. “I'm going to get your mate some more painkillers. I'll catch up.” The Doctor nodded, glad that Malokeh was showing remorse for his actions. With a grateful smile they continued on.

Danni frowned to herself. She felt that she should warn the Doctor about Alaya, but there was nothing they could do about it now. The Doctor she had watched on television hadn't known, but then again, the Doctor she had watched on television hadn't half-dragged her down a hallway, eager to get back and see how the negotiations were going on. In the show, the discovery of Alaya triggered an attack on the humans, which was counter attacked and eventually led to Rory not existing. The following series of events would take them to the Pandorica, which would in turn lead to the Doctor rebooting the universe and saving everyone from certain annulation. What if she changed that, and doomed the universe?

She knew she needed to keep silent. She could ask him later when he explained what was going on. But she didn’t want him to go into the next part of the episode with no idea, no time to plan around what had happened on the surface. She didn’t know what to do.

_~0~0~0~_


	7. The Failed Alliance

The talk between Nasreen, Amy and Eldane seemed to be getting nowhere. With one suggestion came a reasonable counter-argument and the three were becoming more and more irate as they tried to come to so happy medium. They all wanted an alliance to work but no one wanted to give up what they needed for their species’ best interests. Eldane brought up a green three-dimensional projection of Planet Earth so they could visualise any suggestions they may have had, but all that seemed to come from it was more arguments. That was until Amy, after staring at it for a long moment, stood up with an idea.

“So, erm, what about the areas that aren't habitable to us?” she asked as she spun the projection around. “Australian outback, Sahara Desert, Nevada plains...They're all deserted.”

It made a lot of sense, at least in her mind. They were lizard people, and lizards thrived in desert conditions. Maybe they were the same, in fact maybe they would prefer it to the damp areas humans seemed to enjoy.

 Nasreen grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down, turning on the bench so they were huddled together. “Yes, fine, but what happens when their population grows and breeds and spreads?” she asked. “And anyway, what benefit does humanity get? And how would we ever sell this to people on the surface?” They were all valid questions, Amy knew that. It was a monumental task, one she wasn't sure anyone was ready for but she knew that they had to try. The Doctor had put them in charge of making this work and she wasn’t about to let him down.

“If I could get a word in,” Eldane tried, leaning forward slightly and the two humans turned to him, slightly embarrassed at ignoring him. “Maybe I could tell you. You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilisation. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. We work together, this planet could achieve greatness.”

Nasreen nodded along, her smile growing at the promises he was offering. “OK. Now I'm starting to see it,” she replied.

Amy placed her hands on the table in front of them, stretching like the cat who’d got the cream. “Oh, yeah,” she said triumphantly. They were finally getting somewhere and it was on her idea.

They were all startled by a sudden applause from the doorway. The Doctor, Mo, Danni and Elliot had returned without any of them noticing and the Doctor was clapping happily at the progress that had gone on in his absence. Danni, on the other hand, was clinging to him tightly as she hoped that Malokeh turned up soon with her painkillers. It was draining her, making her feel incredibly sleepy and she was grateful when the Doctor quickly wrapped his arm back around her waist. At this point she didn’t care if it was a dream or not. She just wanted to go to bed.

“Not bad for a first session,” the Doctor praised as they walked forward to the table in the middle of the room. “More similarities than differences.”

A noise and a bright yellow light had them all looking at the doorway they had just entered. “The transport has returned. Your friends are here,” Eldane explained. The Doctor grinned and helped Danni sit down on one of the spectator benches. She wrapped an arm around her stomach, resting the other elbow on it so she could attempt to rub the headache that was steadily building from her forehead. The Doctor gave the top of her arms a friendly, reassuring rub.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Is it getting too much?”

“No,” she replied. “Doctor, I really need to tell you something…”

“Later,” he promised. “You can tell me everything later. Just rest, Rory will be here in a minute then we can go.” She was pale. Too pale. He knew that she wasn’t badly injured, but he also knew that the moment he could give her a proper looking over then they’d both be better for it. She was normally good about hiding her pain, even in the early days, so he knew that she had to be pretty bad to be this worn out by it.

“I need—” she paused, closing her eyes and taking a slow, deep breath through her mouth, releasing it purposefully.

It was that pause that cost her the time to warn the Doctor about Alaya. Rory appeared in the doorway, looking around the large room. The Doctor caught sight of him and sprung to his feet, a grin on his face. “Here they are!” he cried. Ambrose appeared behind him, stepping in trepidly. Elliot ran over, hugging his mum tightly and Amy was just happy to see Rory again.

Both of them looked sad, and nervous and the Doctor frowned. “Something’s wrong…” he said softly. Then Tony entered, carrying something rather large and human-sized wrapped in an orange blanket. Danni sighed sadly. She should have spoken up sooner.

“Doctor, what’s he carrying?” Amy asked.

The Doctor didn’t reply, instead he stepped towards Tony. “No, don’t do this. Tell me you didn’t do this,” he begged as Tony place Alaya’s body on the floor. The Doctor bent down, moving a piece of the cloth out of the way, hoping for anything but what he was about to see.

 “Rory!” Amy shouted, trying to keep the sound of just how happy she was to see him out of her voice. Rory stared back, his mouth moving up and down as he tried to figure out what to say.

“Something's wrong...” The Doctor frowned as Tony entered carrying something in an orange blanket.

“Doctor, what's he carrying?” Amy asked and the Doctor stepped forward, his hearts dropping in his chest.

“No. Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this.” Tony placed the body on the floor and the Doctor bent down, moving a piece of the cloth and revealing Alaya. Eldane stared down at the dead Silurian sadly while Amy looked at Rory for answers. The Doctor covered her face back up and glared at Tony.

“What did you do?” he demanded. Tony hung his head in shame, taking the brunt of the Doctor’s anger.

“It was me,” Ambrose spoke up. She sounded scared, but she almost sounded proud and that was the worst part. She didn’t sound remourseful at all. “I did it.”

Elliot turned to look at her, hurt that she would do something like that. “Mum?” he asked quietly.

“I just wanted you back,” she explained desperately as she tried hold onto him. He pushed her away and walked back over to his father, who looked just as horrified as his son did.

The Doctor walked over to Eldane with the hope that he could make this right. “I'm sorry. I didn't know. You have to believe me, they're better than this,” he promised.

“This is our planet!” Ambrose shouted.

He spun around, glaring at her, furious and hurt that the humans had let him down. He always held such high hopes for them. “We had a chance here,” he exclaimed but she didn’t care.

“Leave us alone,” she continued and the Doctor stormed up to her, towering over her.

“In future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity,” he snarled before he spun around to look over at Danni. “And _you_!”

He trailed off as he saw her on the bench, doubled over in pain, her eyes squeezed shut so she didn’t have to see the body on the floor. She had so much knowledge and his anger, for a moment, blamed her for not speaking up sooner. But it faded away as he saw her sat there, young and frightened and wounded. He walked over, crouching down in front of her to place a hand on her knee. Her eyes opened and she looked scared of his temper. He had to be better. His anger wasn’t at her. “And you tried to warn me,” he finished gently. “You wanted to help and I didn’t listen. Again.” Her brows furrowed, confused and it was just another reminder of how little time she’d spent with him. “They hurt you and you still tried to help.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. Even in the state she was in she was still elated that she’d gotten a kiss off _the Doctor_. Her lips pulled up into a soft smile and he returned it gladly.

“I can’t blame anyone for being curious,” she explained. “I wasn’t even sure if I should have told you anyway. Who knows how I might have messed up the timeline.” She shrugged, wincing slightly. “And then I was just too late.”

“You did brilliantly,” he promised before standing up. He looked over at Ambrose. “That’s the best of humanity,” he told her. “That’s what you should have been.”

He didn’t have time to plead anymore. The sound of marching quickly filled the room and a mass of armed Silurian soldiers flooded in, surrounding them all and pointing their guns at the entire room.

From the main door Restac entered, flanked by a few more soldiers, now in charge of the proceedings. “My sister,” she demanded. There was no reply and no one could look her in the eye as she searched the room. She quickly spotted the shrouded body and walked over. She knelt down next to it, uncovering her sister. She let out a loud, heartbroken wail and everyone reacted to her mournful cry. She covered Alaya back up and looked up at the Doctor, hurt and hatred in her eyes. “And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?” she spat.

“One woman,” the Doctor argued. “She was scared for her family. She’s not typical.”

Restac shot up from the floor, spinning around to face Ambrose. “I think she is,” she hissed.

“Are you saying you wouldn't kill for your child? Do anything to ensure they're safe?” Danni defended from the side-lines but was ignored. Seeing Restac was not about to listen to any of them, the Doctor turned to Eldane.

“One person let us down. But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something, here, come on...an alliance could work,” he pleaded.

“It's too late for that, Doctor,” Ambrose told him and he looked at her questioningly. Tony ran his hand through his hair, disappointed in himself and his daughter over what they had done.

“Why?”

“Our drill is set to start burrowing again in...” Ambrose pulled out a stopwatch, checking the time on it. “15 minutes.”

“What?” Nasreen exclaimed. She looked to Tony for an explanation, who motioned to his grandson.

“What choice did I have? They had Elliot,” he replied, ashamed.

“Don't do this, don't call their bluff,” the Doctor warned them.

“Let us go back,” Ambrose pleaded. “And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone.”

Restac growled, furious and in mourning. “ _Execute her!_ ” she screamed.

“No!” the Doctor cried. He rushed over and grabbed Ambrose, pulling her out of the way of the soldier's fire just in time. He snatched the stopwatch from her before shoving her towards the exit. “Everybody, back to the lab! Run!” He turned back to grab Danni by the hand, holding her behind him as he held up the sonic screwdriver.

“Execute all the apes!” Restac shouted. The Doctor activated it, spinning on the spot as the guns exploded one by one.

“This is a deadly weapon - stay back,” he warned as they both made their way to the exit. One of the soldier's climbed up the benches and shot at the pair with her tongue, hoping to get a direct hit. The Doctor dodged out of the way, throwing Danni into the opposite wall. She screamed in pain, falling to the ground. The Doctor helped her back up and they ran out of the room.

“Take everyone to the lab!” he called after Rory, who was just ahead of them. One of the soldier's shot at them and he manoeuvred both him and Danni out of the way before turning around to face the approaching Silurians. “I'll cover you! Go! Go!” Danni clung to his hand tightly. “You too, go with Rory,” he instructed.

“Not a chance,” she replied in a pant. “I’m not stupid, I’m safest with you.”

He didn’t have time to argue, and he knew there wasn’t much point anyway. He held out his sonic screwdriver as Restac and her soldiers rushed around the corner. He set it off once and caused their guns to spark. “Ah-ah! Stop right there! Or I'll use my very deadly weapon again,” He warned. “One warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation. All of you. Now. This ends here.”

“No! It only ends with our victory,” Restac snarled.

“Like I said... one warning.” The Doctor set off the screwdriver again, disabling the last two guns before they followed the rest of the humans into the lab. He locked the door and turned to the room. He had to get them all back to the surface and do his best to get all of the Silurians back into hibernation.

“Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen,” he commanded, nodding towards one of the many monitors in the lab. “Let me know if we get company. Amy,” he threw the stopwatch at his companion, “keep reminding me how much time I haven't got. Danni,” he helped Danni over towards the chairs at the control desk. “You sit down.” She was very happy to oblige and not be any help at all. She lowered herself into the chair next to Tony, who was looking worse than she did.

“OK, 12 minutes till drill impact,” Amy told him, doing exactly as the Doctor had told her to.

Everyone was in place so he turned his attention to the rather ill-looking man next to Danni. “Tony Mack!” he cried. He rubbed a finger across the man's forehead, frowning slightly at the moisture that was there. “Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils, what're you hiding?”

With a grimace Tony opened the top of his shirt, pulling it apart and showing off the green veins that extended from a wound on his neck. Nasreen gasped at the sight. “Tony! What happened?!”

“Alaya's sting. She said there's no cure,” he explained as the Doctor scanned it with his screwdriver. “I'm dying, aren't I?” The Doctor moved to the centre console and held the screwdriver to one of the monitors.

“You're not dying, you're mutating,” he replied, amazed. An image of Tony's DNA appeared on the screen, the shape twisting as it changed. Danni watched it, also rather amazed. She remembered how the saved Tony, but the technology was still rather cool.

“How can I stop it?” Tony asked.

“Decontamination program!” the Doctor declared. “Might work - don't know. Eldane,” he pointed at the elder Silurian, “can you run the program on Tony?”

“Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way!” Mo cried as Eldane did as he asked. “We're surrounded in here!”

The Doctor began pacing, something Danni had noticed from the show helped him think. She leant against the control desk as she watched him. His mind was obviously running fast as he tried to catch an idea from somewhere. “So, question is, how we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time? Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?”

He stopped and knelt by Danni, deciding that because he hadn’t listened to her before that he would now. If he showed this younger Danni that he was better then, maybe, she’d believe he really was trying. “Danni-Girl, tell me what to do.”

Her brow furrowed as he looked at her almost pleadingly and she realised he wanted to make up for ignoring her about Alaya. “You could use a, err... An energy pulse thing, shoot it at the drill and destroy it before it hits,” she replied slowly. He must have already known that, but she still liked that he was waiting for her to say so before he put it into action.

He shared a smile with her before he stood up, moving over to Nasreen. “Nasreen, how d'you feel about an energy pulse, channelled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?” he asked.

“To blow up my life's work?” she asked angrily.

“Yes,” he replied before smiling apologetically. “Sorry. No nice way of putting that.”

“Right, well,” she started, trying to pull herself together. “You're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in...” she trailed off, upset but knowing it was the only option. The Doctor patted her on the shoulder sympathetically before rushing over to the centre console.

“11 minutes, 40 seconds...” Amy called from across the room.

“Yes! Squeaky bum time!” the Doctor cheered. He rubbed his hands together gleefully.

“Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels so we have to be on the surface by then,” Nasreen pointed out.

“But we can't get past Restac's troops,” Rory replied.

“I can help with that,” Eldane started, causing everyone to look around at him as he stepped out of the decontamination chamber. “Toxic Fumigation - an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down.”

“You could end up killing your own people,” Amy stated pointedly, stepping towards him. He nodded gravely.

“Only those foolish enough to follow Restac.”

“Eldane, are you sure about this?” the Doctor pressed. It was a lot for anyone to do, kill any amount of people of their own race. He knew that well.

“My priority is my race's survival,” Eldane replied. “The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet.”

“No,” the Doctor agreed angrily, almost in protest. “But maybe it should be.” He stepped out from behind the console. “So here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown, I'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time.” He clapped his hand on Eldane's arm and the elder set to work. The Doctor turned to the humans. “1,000 years to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared.”

Elliot nodded with a grin. “Yeah. I get you.”

“Nine minutes, seven seconds,” Amy pointed out. The Doctor ran around to join Eldane at the controls, wiggling his fingers in the air excitedly.

“Yes, fluid controls, my favourite! Energy pulse timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out – quickly.” He pointed his screwdriver at the screen and on the surface the force field over the area was deactivated.

“Fumigation pre-launching,” Eldane informed him. Rory moved over to them.

“There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor!” he pointed out urgently.

“Ah-ha, super-squeaky bum time!” the Doctor replied happily, still typing on the console. Elliot smiled at him, enjoying the impossible man and Danni pushed herself up and moved over, hugging the boy around the shoulder.

“Impressive, isn't he?” she whispered and he nodded. The Doctor glanced over, hearing her words and grinning. He was already making an impression on her.

Not that he was trying to impress her or anything.

“Get ready to run for your lives. Now...” the Doctor started but Eldane stepped forward.

“But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet,” he interrupted and they all looked at Tony, who with some effort moved out of the chamber.

“Well, go. All of you! Go,” he commanded firmly, motioning to the door.

“No, we're not leaving you here!” Ambrose cried.

“Granddad!” Elliot broke out from under Danni's arm and ran over, hugging him tightly.

“Eight minutes, 10 seconds,” Amy warned.

The family had a moment, taking the time to say goodbye and sharing last hugs. It was a horrid part of the episode, but Danni tried not to see it like that. She tried to see it as a new beginning for both the Tony and the family left behind. Ambrose had the chance to make amends for her actions and Tony got to explore a new, exciting world and time when he came out of decontamination and hibernation. They’d always have memories of each other and, hopefully, he would see the legacy that his family would leave behind.

There was still one thing missing. She leant closer to Nasreen. “I think you should stay,” she whispered. “Don't give up what you've only just found.” Nasreen shot her a confused look and Tony finally let his daughter go.

“Go. Go. Come on… Go on,” Tony instructed, shooing his family away. The Doctor nodded at Eldane, who activated the control on the screen. The room went dark for just a moment before auxiliary lighting bathed it in a slightly green glow.

“ _Toxic fumigation initiated,_ ” a voice rang out over the tannoy. “Return to cryo-chambers.” Amy ran over to the screen showing the hallway outside the door.

“They're going! We're clear!” she told them.

“OK,” the Doctor moved towards the door with a nod. “Everyone follow Nasreen,” he instructed. “Look for a blue box. Get ready to run.” He unlocked the door with a buzz of his screwdriver before he turned to Eldane. “I'm sorry.”

“I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans...”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“Doctor!” Amy cried. “We've got less than six minutes.”

“Go! Go! I'm right behind you!” Everyone rushed from the room except Nasreen, Danni and the Doctor. The Doctor shared a last, sad look with Eldane before he grabbed Danni’s hand. “Let's go,” he told both women.

“I'm not coming either,” Nasreen told him, much to his surprised.

“What?”

Nasreen moved over to Tony in the decontamination chamber and placed both hands on his arm. “We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony,” she explained.

“I can be decontaminated when we're woken. All the time in the world,” Tony continued, looking fondly down at Nasreen, who replied with a soft smile.

“But... Nasreen... you...” the Doctor stuttered. She walked up to him.

“No. This is perfect. I don't want to go,” she told him determinedly. “Danni's right, I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it.” The Doctor looked down at Danni, who let go of his hand and hugged Nasreen.

“It was an honour meeting you,” Danni stated sincerely as Amy ran back into the room.

“Doctor! Danni,” she said, motioning urgently. Danni let go of Nasreen and moved over to Amy.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Nasreen told him and he smiled, hugging her.

“The pleasure was all mine,” he replied. He rushed over to Danni and Amy, grabbing Danni’s hand before they left the two to their new life together. They began running towards the TARDIS, entering a plant-filled tunnel as Rory came bounding towards them, obviously looking for Amy.

“Other way, idiot!” she snapped and he spun on the spot, running back the way he came.

The Doctor glanced down at Danni at his side. She didn’t understand the fondness on his face, like he was truly happy to have her there, but she didn’t have time to focus too much on it. She just knew that it sat as funny as the strain in her abdomen. She tried for as long as she could to keep hold of his hand, but eventually she stumbled, crying out in pain as she fell to the floor.

The Doctor skidded to a stop, falling to the floor next to her. Her knees were bleeding as she’d taken a layer of skin off them and she was curling up into herself, eyes watering even as she squeezed them closed. She couldn’t run anymore, she couldn’t even move.

“This isn’t the time for this, Danni,” the Doctor half scolded as he tried to rouse her. She shook her head.

“I- I feel funny…” she slurred out before the world went dark.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni had never been in hospital. She had been surprisingly lucky in that regard, especially considering she could be quite clumsy on occasion. She didn’t have much experience of hospitals either, but she’d seen enough television shows to know that if you woke up in a while room on a bed that you’d somehow ended up there.

Images of green lizard men and bowties filled her mind and she frowned, trying to remember what had happened to land her in a hospital room. A private one, it would seem, considering that there wasn’t much noise around her. Although, considering it was private, the bed was rather uncomfortable. She sat up as she smiled to herself, remembering the broken Christmas present she had been given. It had been a dream. A rather good dream. Well, apart from being dissected. She could have done without that.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, wondering where everyone was. She needed to find a doctor – not _the_ Doctor unfortunately – and find out what was happening. Shouldn’t she have been in a hospital gown or something? Maybe they only changed you if your clothes were ruined. She really had absolutely no idea. She picked at her dress, which looked worse for wear. Perhaps she had owned this dress all along. Dreams always seemed to get some things wrong.

The door opened and an excited young boy ran in, eyes wide and grinning. “You’re awake!” Elliot almost cheered. “This place is amazing! It’s bigger on the inside and everything.”

“You-You shouldn’t be here,” she stated weakly as her heart began to race.

“The Doctor sent me to check on you,” he explained. “I think we’re going to fly soon.”

Danni shook her head again. She had woken up, hadn’t she? It was black and then she was lying on a bed. She had woken up. She shouldn’t still be dreaming. Not unless the injuries were worst than she feared.

Or maybe the Doctor had been telling the truth. Maybe she wasn’t dreaming.

She shook her head. The panic that came from that thought seemed to suddenly be much too far away for her to focus on. Instead she remembered what came next. If they were already on the TARDIS…

“I have to get to the Doctor,” she cried, rushing out of the room and past the confused Welsh boy. The hallway seemed a lot shorter and a lot easier to navigate than she’d expected and mere moments later she was in the console room of the TARDIS watching the Doctor pull a hysterical Amy back in from outside.

“Let me out, please let me out... I need to get Rory.” Amy sobbed as she pounded on the door, trying to get to her fiancé. The Doctor walked determinedly to the console, leaning on it and breathing heavily as he fought himself not to let her out. Danni watched him for a moment before grabbing the nearest monitor and pulling it towards her. There was a crack on the wall outside spewing light onto Rory and she sighed, closing her eyes. She was too late. Rory was about to get eaten by the crack and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

She took a step towards the Doctor, who’s head was hanging. “It’ll be okay,” she promised. He looked up at her and his heartbreak was visible on his face. He’d always been so expressive that she’d never been able to stand it on the show. And just like with Ten before she couldn’t stand it now. “It doesn’t seem like it, but it will be.”

“That light,” Amy said as she looked at the giant screen on the wall showing Rory’s fate. “If his body's absorbed I'll forget him. He'll never have existed.” She turned, looking at the Doctor pleadingly. “You can't let that happen,” she begged. The Doctor didn't look at her, instead pulled a lever on the console to set them into flight.

“What are you doing?” Amy shouted angrily, running toward the Doctor.

“Amy!” Danni cried out, grabbing the redhead to stop her attacking the Doctor and stopping them flying away. Amy just shoved her off and onto the floor, Danni crying out in pain. How did her stomach still hurt? What was happening?

“Doctor! No!” Amy screamed desperately as they flew away. He spun her around and tried to hug her as she smacked him in the chest with her fists as she tried to get away.

“No! No! Doctor, we can't just leave him there!” she pleaded, grabbing onto his shoulders as she collapsed into sobs.

“Keep him in your mind,” he told her, grabbing her arms tightly to hold her up. “Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever.”

“On the Byzantium, I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveller,” Amy sobbed. Danni sat up on the floor. She was shaking, but not because of what was happening to Rory. If she had been paying attention she would have felt terrible about it, but her mind raced on her own problems, her own fears. Was she really dreaming?

“They weren't part of your world,” the Doctor explained, taking Amy’s head in his hands to force her to look at him. “This is different...this is your own history changing.”

“Don't! Tell me it's going to be OK. You have to make it OK,” she sobbed.

“It's going to be hard, but you can do it, Amy.” He kissed her on the forehead before taking her to the jump seat and sitting her down. He knelt down in front of her. “Tell me about Rory,” he commanded. “Fantastic Rory, funny Rory, gorgeous Rory.” Even now she was starting to forget him, unable to focus at all. “Amy, listen to me. Do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this.”

She tried so hard but shook her head. “I can't,” she whispered.

“You can. You can do it. I can't help you unless you do. Come on. We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy,” he encouraged. She stared over his shoulder, frowning as she tried to remember. “Please…” he begged her. “Come on, Amy, come on. Amy, please. Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory. Keep remembering, Rory is only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind.”

Just as it happened in the episode, the TARDIS jolted as she landed back up on the surface of the Earth. Danni was sent skidding across the floor towards Amy and the Doctor, who in turn were sent flying the floor.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Amy sat up happy and unburdened with the horrific loss she’d just faced. “What were you saying?” she asked the Doctor brightly. Danni looked to the Doctor, who was staring at a red box Danni knew contained Amy’s engagement ring. He then locked eyes with her and she smiled sadly. He seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected her to remember.

“I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad,” Mo stated as he and his family emerged from the hallway of the TARDIS.

Amy reached for the stopwatch as the Doctor reached for the ring. “Doctor! Five seconds till it all goes up!” she told him. He helped Danni up and they all ran outside just in time to see the drill explode.

_~0~0~0~_

“So, are you going to tell me what's going on?”

Danni had gotten changed in the TARDIS closet, this time a lot less enthusiastically. She’d still gone for a blue dress because she had rather enjoyed wearing the last one. It hadn’t been as calming as she thought it would have been, either, but she’d spent the entire time acting like it was. Acting like her mind was racing through every single thing that had happened since she’d appeared with the Doctor and Donna. Through the giant spiders and lizard men, trying to explain every single instance of something that made it seem like she wasn’t in a dream.

It hadn’t worked. Some things just couldn’t be explained. And so she’d gone looking for the Doctor, who she’d found in the console room. That, at least, seemed like it was just like the episodes. And it also highlighted that she wasn’t just remembering what she’d seen on television because this part was all new.

He looked up at her as she stood on the stairs leading into the console room, smiling as he held onto Amy’s engagement ring. “You should be resting,” he scolded lightly.

“Yeah, well, who has time for that?” she asked as she jumped down the last couple of stairs. The pain in her stomach had very much gone but there was still a slight dull ache that was already starting to pass. “Plus, I’m fine now. Just like Amy would be.”

He glanced down at the engagement ring. “You sound so sure,” he muttered. She walked over and closed the lid on it. It was strange but, between the two Doctors, this one seemed happier for her to be around than Ten had. Not that he’d seemed particularly unhappy for her to be there, everything with Eleven just had a different feel to it. He felt more comfortable around her and she could really tell, and it was rubbing off on her.

“I am,” she replied sincerely, because she knew that everything would work out. “Trust me.” He studied her for a moment then smiled, pulling her in for a hug.

“I'll always trust you,” he told her before holding her out at arm’s length. “So, when have you just come from?”

“ _The Runaway Bride,_ ” she replied.

He frowned. “What?”

“You know, with Donna?” she prompted. “Her wedding day? The Racnoss?”

“Ah,” he replied with a nod. “That was your first trip wasn't it? You thought you were dreaming.”

The way he said it seemed to confirm a lot of what she was feeling. It wasn’t a teasing, or a dismissal, it was a rememberance of something that he knew was wrong. “I’m not, am I?” she asked quietly. “You’re the Doctor,” she waved up and down at him, “you’re stood right in front of me and it shouldn’t be real, but it is. This is happening, isn’t it?”

She still seemed so calm, but she was pale and her eyes were darting around as if looking for an escape. His hearts called out for her, they really did. He had hoped that this day wouldn’t come and he wouldn’t have to be the one to explain it.

He reached out, taking hold of her arm and rolling up the sleeve of her cardigan. “You have a vortex manipulator attached to your arm,” he explained as gently as he could. “It’s a fixed point. It’s always there, it always was there and it always will be there. It’ll never come off.” She reached up to try and undo the straps but, much like the first time she had tried, they didn’t move and it was as if she felt nothing underneath her fingertips at all.

“What do I do?” she asked him softly because she didn’t have anything else to ask. She had so many questions, but she didn’t want to ask a single one of them. She still felt numb to the idea that she had, for whatever reason, appeared on the TARDIS with not one, but _two_ different Doctors and companions, in two different episodes.

“You told me, once, that you got it as a gift off your friend but it malfunctioned and you landed on the TARDIS with Donna,” he replied. “It sets off without warning and you get shot across my time line.” He pulled her sleeve back down, hiding it from view and she was glad to not see it. “We've never met in the right order,” he finished.

She nodded along slowly, as if everything he was saying was actually sinking in. None of it was, though. It was only a few small words and yet meant such a life-changing thing it just didn’t make any sense. “I don't understand,” she stated. “This can't happen, time travel doesn't exist.” She met his eyes. “ _You_ don't exist. And I'm just supposed to believe that I'm here? What about my mum and dad? Do I ever go home?” She blinked and her eyes went wide as her brain shot off on another tangent, probably to protect her from where it had already been heading. “Hold on, are you telling me that I actually was dissected?” she exclaimed. He nodded. “And that I was actually looking at a supernova?”

The Doctor could tell she was getting upset, something that would happen from time to time understandably. He grabbed her hand, pulling her to the stairs where he sat her down. He sat next to her, pulling her close and wrapping her up in hug she was grateful for.

“I know it sounds horrible,” he began gently, “but we have so much fun together. We do so many amazing things, go to beautiful planets and help so many people. And you,” he pulled back but held onto her arms, smiling brightly at her, “my amazing Danni-Girl, always know what to do. And you're never scared, and you have told me that you'd never go back.” She sniffed, crying softly but he still didn’t let her go. “I wasn't lying when I told Donna who you are. You _are_ my best friend. Throughout everything, you're the only person who is always there and the only person I want to be.”

“I'm scared now,” she whispered. He leant forward, placing a small kiss on her forehead.

“No you're not,” he replied. “I know when you’re scared. You're just overwhelmed. I know what that's like. You need to go to bed.”

“No I don't,” she replied petulantly and he laughed at her childish protesting. He let go of her arms to wipe her tears away.

“Yes, you do,” he correctly rationally. “If you came straight from Donna to here, you haven't slept properly in almost 48 hours. You're tired.”

She shook her head, pouting and crossing her arms. “Make me, Spaceman,” she challenged. Before he could do anything, her body decided to betray her and she yawned loudly and for much too long. She glared at him. “Not a word.”

He chuckled, standing up. “Definitely not,” he replied. He held out his hand and helped her up. The moment they reached the top of the stairs he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close and making her feel slightly better about the giant bombshell that had just exploded her life.

“So, I just jump around time and space?” she asked him as they headed into the hallway. “What if I land somewhere… I dunno, somewhere I’ve never heard of. Or in like a volcano or something?” Her heart skipped a beat. “Or in outer space?” she whispered, horrified.

“You jump around my personal timeline, so I’m always around somewhere,” he explained, dancing over the idea of her landing out in the void that space was. She noticed and tensed underneath his touch, but decided not to push it. It was too much to handle at that moment. “We've never worked out why, though.”

“How do I choose, though?” she asked. “I mean, I came from Ten to you but that wasn’t a conscious choice. How do I know where I’m going next?”

He stopped her outside a door, turning to look at her. She was staring up at him expectingly, looking for answers. He took both of her hands in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand in comfort. “You don’t,” he admitted, causing her panic to spike again. “But don’t worry about that now. Go to sleep, we can deal with it in the morning.”

“How am I supposed to sleep?” she exclaimed. “If you’re right then I might not even make it til morning!”

He gave her hands a squeeze. “You once told me about your first day with me. You make it to the morning, I promise.” She didn’t look convinced. “Hey,” he said, a little insulted. “Trust me. I’m the Doctor.”

She looked down at his hands, wondering why he was trying so hard to make her feel better. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked quietly.

“Sure.”

“Have you always been so touchy-feely?” she asked, looking back up at him. “The other Doctor, Ten, he wasn’t like this at all.” He blushed slightly and dropped on of her hands to run it through his quiff.

“Well, I guess, he didn’t know you as I long as I have,” he offered with a little stutter. “Do-Do you want me to stop?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say that, did I Spaceman?” se retorted. His hand snaked to rest in the small of her back, turning her to face her door.

“This is your room,” he explained. “You designed it when I was still Nine, so I hope you still like it. Or, will like it.”

“I know, tenses are hard,” she replied offhandedly. She gently pushed the door open and was surprised to see her bedroom at her parent’s house on the other side. The browns and creams felt so familiar, with her desk in one corner and a small set of drawers. The only difference was the double bed in the middle of one of the walls that had replaced her single bed.

“Ah, I see I went for a bit of home,” she mused. “I like it.” She stepped in then turned to look at him again. “I suppose it doesn’t get much use, though. I can’t really stay still long enough if I’m jumping around constantly.”

“You sleep a bit too much, to be honest,” he said and she let out a little hollow chuckle. “That’s the problem with you humans. Always need recharging.”

“It’s a shame we can’t live off none at all like you can,” she countered before sighing heavily. “I hate that I find it so easy to believe you.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because this isn't right,” she retorted. “None of this is right. I mean this sort of thing just doesn't happen in life, does it? And yet, I know that you're not lying to me.” She smiled softly at him. “Thank you.”

That seemed to confuse him further. “What for?”

“For being so nice,” she replied. “And not making fun of me for thinking this was a dream. And letting me have a room on the TARDIS. Lots of things, really.” She hugged him this time, and he squeezed her tightly, resting his head on hers.

“Anytime, Danni-Girl,” he replied softly. He kissed the top of her head before pulling away. “Now, go to bed. You're still tired. Your pyjamas and other night-time outfits should still be in the chest of drawers.”

She smirked at him. “And how do you know where all my clothes are?” she asked teasingly. He looked alarmed and he laughed. “Oh, I'm just teasing you. Shoo, I'm going to get changed.”

She closed the door as he left then leant against it, looking around the room. Everything seemed so surreal. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and looking around the room. It was exactly like her room at home, down to the pictures of her friends on the noticeboard above her bed. She knelt down and felt the carpet, it felt slightly worn as it should have because it hadn't been redecorated in a couple of years. This _was_ her room at her parents. She stood up and stared at the door. If she opened that door, the hallway outside the room would lead to the stairs to the front room, she just knew it. She nodded once and threw it open, revealing the grey metal of the TARDIS. She slammed it shut and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, her feet barely reaching the floor.

“This is really happening,” she stated out loud, although no one was there to hear her. Poor Claire. She would have just walked into the front room and she would have been gone. Claire'll never see her again and she would never know why. Neither would her parents. Her eyes stung as tears welled up. Would they become like those parents she would see on the news, constantly fighting for closure decades after their children have disappeared? A sob broke out from her throat and she shook. What if they all just forgot about her? What if coming here she was wiped from her own universe? No one would miss her. She had no home now, no family. She curled up on the edge of her new bed, hugging her knees to her chest as she cried.

No one would care.

_~0~0~0~_

 


	8. The First Morning

The one thing Danni could always do is sleep; no matter how devastated she was, if she was comfy she could and would fall asleep. So, when she had woken up the next day - or what she thought was the next day as it proved to be very hard to follow time in a time-travelling blue box - she had been rather well-rested. She’d dreamt about green men and pain, which wasn’t great because she normally had good dreams. She was starting to regret going with Amy down into the soil.

She headed out into the TARDIS hallway and wandered through the labyrinth it presented. She smiled slightly to herself, it was if the box knew she didn't want to see anyone or think about anything. And, knowing the TARDIS, it probably did. She appreciated it greatly. She really didn’t want to see anyone, or think much about anything. How was she even supposed to start processing being trapped in another universe? She’d not prepared for that at university. All she’d been shown was how to make proper references at the end of her essays and the best way to stay up for 36 hours powered by caffeine alone.

She peeked into the doors on her way around, finding the library and what appeared to be a home theatre. Again, both very good additions to home she was now trapped in. She had always wondered what the TARDIS had stored within her walls. She held onto the thought that she could now explore until she couldn’t walk any further.

Or she was shot off by the manipulator strapped to her wrist.

What were her parents doing? Were they rushing around on Christmas Day, searching for their daughter? Was her mum begging people to listen to her? Was her dad going out of his mind with worry?

She opened one particular door and found what appeared to be a tennis court, but with the net on the ceiling. She frowned and closed the door quickly. She’d never had that much interest in sports.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d wandered for before she’d opened a door onto a kitchen. Amy was sat at a little table, cradling a cup of coffee like it was the only thing keeping her awake. She looked up and caught Danni’s gaze, smiling warmly at her. Danni shot her a half-hearted one back.

“Hi, how are you feeling?” Amy asked her and Danni shrugged, moving towards the kettle and putting it on.

“Strange. Sad, I suppose,” Danni offered as she flipped the switch and it began to boil. “I don't think I'm overly sad though. Maybe it's not sunk in yet that I'm stuck here with no control over my own life anymore.”

She clenched her fist as a fleeting flash of anger rushed over her before being replaced by the quiet numbness she had woken up with. Amy looked over at her, confused at what she had said but didn't say anything as Danni poured herself a cup of tea of her own and sat across from her, blowing on it gently.

“What's wrong?” Danni asked her after she become uncomfortable under Amy's gaze.

“You're really strange like this,” Amy told her bluntly. “Every time I've met you, you loved every minute of it and yet you look like you hate it here. The Danni I know just loves to be with the Doctor.”

Danni shrugged. “I'm not her yet, am I?” she offered as an explanation. “The Doctor said I jump around in random order, so I'm sure by the time you meet me for the first time I'll be okay with it, but right now I'm not. Right now I’m just… I dunno, I’m nothing right now.” She paused for a moment. “When do we first meet?” she asked curiously.

“You told me that I'm not allowed to tell you in case it's not happened to you yet,” Amy replied, sounding like she was uncertain if she was supposed to say anything.

“I haven't said that yet, have I?” Danni pointed out cheekily. “You don’t have to give me details.”

Amy frowned, still not sure if she should give up that information, but she could see Danni needed something to place her in the new situation she’d found herself in. “When I was a little girl,” she said.

Danni was actually surprised at that. It meant that there was only a couple of episodes that she could have first appeared in for Amy. “I’m quite persistent in your life, aren’t I?” Danni asked her.

Amy let out a little laugh. “Yes, I suppose so,” she agreed. “I wouldn’t call it persistence, though.”

“Oh?” Danni replied. “What would you call it?”

“Welcomed,” Amy replied instantly and Danni smiled, touched at how quickly Amy had said so. It sounded really genuine and it meant a lot to know she, at least, wasn’t a bother to her.

“Do I get annoying, though?” she asked. “You know, just popping up here and there?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Amy retorted. “Plus, that’s the way you’ve always been.”

The conversation trailed off for a moment as the heavy feeling in Danni’s stomach reappeared. She’d spent the entirety of Amy’s life jumping in and out of it? And she’d met Donna as well? Did she jump through all of the companion’s lives? Was she just the ‘time-jumping’ girl now?

Amy shifted in her chair slightly. “Did you really think this was a dream?” she asked.

Danni nodded. “Yeah, sorry,” she said apologetically. “I should have known though, this has none of the M-O of one of my Doctor Who dreams.”

“Oh? And how do they normally go? Are they dirty?” Amy probed excitedly and Danni giggled before blushing slightly.

“Sometimes,” she admitted and Amy laughed. Danni shot her a warning look so she knew not to tell anyone else. “But not normally. It tends to involve the Doctor proclaiming his undying love for me on some crystal moon and then something peculiar happening; like Clanger's appearing and us having a Clanger wedding. Or, once, you turned up as a teacher at my university and kept scolding me for speaking 'too English'.” They both laughed together and Danni bit a grin back. “You know, Amelia Pond,” Danni began. “You're a lot more welcoming than I thought you might have been.”

“Why? Did you think I'd persecute the English girl?”

“No, I thought you might have been dead possessive of the Doctor and wouldn't like another girl on the TARDIS.”

Amy shrugged. “You're not another girl, you're Danni-Girl. His Danni-Girl. If I didn't want you here _I_ wouldn't be here, he wouldn't allow anyone in who didn't like you.”

Danni blushed at the thought. She was _his_ Danni-Girl? That was a thought that normally didn’t come up unless she was dreaming. “He does seem to like me,” she admitted. “Which is probably a good sign if I'm going to be jumping around him for the unforeseeable future.”

The Doctor opened the door, striding in and grinning at the sight of the two women. “There you are!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing hiding in here? Having a girly chat about girl things like hair and shoes and boys?” He sat down next to Danni, taking her cup of tea out of hand and drinking it. Danni's mouth fell open.

“Hey! I wasn't done with that!” she snapped. She snatched it back and he pouted.

“Come on, I want a cup of tea,” he whined and she gripped it tighter.

“Then get your own, Spaceman. This is mine.” He looked at her, eyes wide and bottom lip out in his best rendition of a puppy-dog face but she just stared back before sighing in defeat and handing it to him.

“I give in to you a lot, don't I?” she asked as he grinned and kissed her on the cheek before nodding and taking a sip.

“All the time,” he told her and she sighed again.

“Great. A spoilt Time Lord. Just what I need....” She trailed off and looked down at her arm as the Vortex Manipulator strapped there began burning, getting hotter and hotter like it had with Ten.

“Why's it burning?” she asked. The Doctor put the drink down and shot her a sad smile.

“It means you're about to leave again,” he explained gently. He looked so sad but, as she clutched at her arm, she almost missed it.

“Does it always hurt?” she whimpered before hissing in pain. He didn’t have a chance to reply as both he and Amy disappeared in a bright white light, only for them and the kitchen to be replaced by a dark metal box.

“Oh Danni, am I glad to see you!” a voice cried in aloud whisper. She looked to her left and saw Donna in one corner in a huge duffle coat, barely visible in the dark. She frowned before gasping as the chill in the air caught her and goosebumps covered her arms.

“Oh my god it's freezing!” she cried, wrapping her arms around herself. “How am I supposed to know it’s going to be cold?” Donna grabbed her and pulled her closer, unzipping her coat and letting the younger ginger woman huddle in it, never taking her eyes of the other corner of the room. Danni looked over to see a group of Ood staring back at them.

“Oh it's the Ood. I like an Ood,” she said happily. She’d always enjoyed the Ood episodes, but they weren’t exactly treated well. With Donna they were set free, but not until… Her stomach dropped. “Hold on, are we in a storage container?” she asked lowly. Donna nodded.

“Yeah. I got locked in here by the bloody security,” she explained before addressing the Ood. “Can you help us?” One of the Ood raised its head to look at them, revealing a pair of deep red eyes. “Oh, no you don't,” Donna warned it.

“Ah, red-eye,” Danni commented. “Not so good. We need to get out of here.”

“I tried that,” Donna retorted. “What have we done? We're not one of that lot. We're on your side!” she insisted as the rest of the Ood looked at them, now all with red eyes. “Stay where you are, that's an order! I said stay!” she commanded.

“We need to get out of here,” Danni reiterated, slipping out of Donna’s jacket and moving to the door. Of course, it was locked so she began banging hard. “Doctor! Get us out!” she screamed. “I know you’re out there! Let us out!”

“Doctor, get us out of here!” Donna screamed, joining in to hopefully catch the Time Lord’s attention before they were Ood-ed to death.

“Doctor, I swear if you don't open this door _right now_ I'm gonna kick your arse!” Danni exclaimed.

“ _If you don't do what they say,_ ” she heard a voice say just outside the door and she halted her banging, “ _you're really in trouble. Not from me; from them. They're both red-head's, you know?_ ”

“ _Unlock the container,_ ” another voice commanded. The door opened and Donna rushed out

“Doctor!” she cried, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back before letting her go, making way for Danni who practically jumped him as she hugged him.

“There we go, safe and sound,” he promised gently, stroking her hair to try and comfort her. She didn’t think on how strange it was that he went from Donna to her so quickly, she just took the comfort. She loved an Ood, but the red-eyed ones were terrifying.

That was going to be her life now, wasn’t it? Spending her time jumping from place to place, being absolutely bloody terrified?

“Yeah, what about them?” Donna asked as the Ood began leaving the container. One approached a guard and held it's orb up to his head, setting it off with a spark of electricity and killing the man.

“Red alert! Fire!” they head guard screamed. The guards turned to the approaching Ood, shooting them down. The Doctor grabbed Danni's hand and the trio began running away, dodging random bullets bouncing off other containers. “ _Shoot to kill!_ ” they heard the man cry. They were joined by a woman that Danni recognised from the show. She had to admit, she _did_ appreciate the fact the casting had been so spot on. It made everything a lot easier when she could tell who the characters were before she’d even talked to them.

The group ran out of the warehouse and continued until they were a safe distance away before pausing for breath. Danni wrapped her arms back around herself. “My god, it's so cold!” she exclaimed. “I need more warning. How-How am I supposed to prepare for this?”

The Doctor shrugged off his overcoat and draped it over her shoulders with a smile. She looked up at him, surprised. “I didn't mean for you to give me your jacket,” she told him gently.

“Can't have you getting a cold, Danni-Girl,” he replied and she smiled shyly, pulling it tighter. If this was real, and as much as she tried to deny it she knew it was, then the Doctor was being nice and protective not because her subconscious wanted him to, but because _he_ wanted to. She didn't really know how to feel about that. Part of her was slightly suspicious as to why he was being so nice, the other part was jumping up and down like a school girl.

“If the people back on Earth knew what was going on here...” Donna started, panting.

“Don't be stupid,” the sales woman interrupted. “Of course they know.”

“They know how you treat the Ood?”

“They don't ask,” she clarified. “Same thing.”

“Solana,” the Doctor butted in before an argument started. “The Ood aren't born like this. They can't be. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?”

“That has nothing to do with me,” Solana replied outraged that he was implying she was doing it.

“What, because you don't ask?” Danni snapped.

The woman glared at her. Danni glared right back. “That's Dr Ryder's territory,” she explained.

“Where is he? What part of the complex?” The Doctor reached into the front pocket of his overcoat and pulled out a map, unfolding it as he showed it to her. “I could help with the red-eye. Now show me!” They stared at each other for a moment before she reached out and pointed to a place on the map.

“There. Beyond the red section,” she told him quietly.

“Come with me,” he asked. Solana stared at him, shocked at his offer. “You've seen the warehouse, you can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me, you could help.” She panted slightly, trying to catch her breath, as she deliberated over what to do.

“They're over here! Guards, they're over here!” she shouted. The Doctor grabbed Danni's hand again and they began running away as the guards started to run towards them.

“Where-Where are we going?” Donna asked.

“Ood Conversion,” Danni replied. “It’s where they make the Oods subservient. It’s the source of the red eye.” She panted hard. “I-I think I’m going to need some training!”

“What for?” Donna asked.

“The running! I-I’m not going to be able to keep up with this for long.”

“We really don’t have time for you being young,” the Doctor told her. “You can do it, Danni-Girl.”

Danni appreciated his faith in her, even if she didn’t quite believe it herself. Her lungs were burning, her side aching and her thighs were already beginning to feel like the muscles inside were going to snap. She had always been painfully average at best in PE, and she’d been much further below average in her interest in participating. If she’d known what had been to come she would have stopped hiding in the Sixth Form common room and more time actually doing the cross country running.

“We’re- oh god,” she groaned. “We’re going to hit some more guards!”

They ran around the corner just in time to see two more guards with guns running towards them. The Doctor skidded, turning and pulling Danni behind him. She let him fling her around, feeling a little like a ragdoll.

“This way!” he cried as he took them down a different route. The warehouse that housed the Ood conversion wasn’t shiny and new like the others that they had passed. The entrance was hidden behind stairs and other structures, as if hiding it from view. They obviously didn’t want anyone to pay any attention to it.

The Doctor reached into his pocket as he looked up at the building. “Oh, can you hear it?” he asked them. He buzzed the door and unlocked it. “I didn’t need the map. I should’ve listened.”

Donna looked to Danni, confused. “Do you know what he’s on about?” she asked. Danni nodded as the Doctor let them in, only to turn around and break the lock by zapping it. It sparked. “Does that mean we’re locked in?” Donna pressed, panicking slightly. The Doctor didn’t reply, pulling out a small torch from his pocket that he used to find his way into the building.

“Listen,” he commanded. “Listen, listen, listen, listen.” He headed off without them, repeating the word under his breath.

“As a Time Lord he can hear things humans can't,” Danni explained to Donna as they followed him. “If anything's being transmitted over a psychic field then he can pick it up.” They headed down a set of stairs and followed the path past empty cages, chains swinging ominously.

They paused for a moment as the Doctor winced, hissing in pain. “Oh, my head.”

“What is it?” Donna asked.

“Can't you hear it? The singing?” he replied. He shone his torch around the room and the beam of light landed on a group of Ood, huddled together in one cage in the darkness. The Doctor headed towards them and, spotting a large switch on the wall, turned the lights on. All the Ood looked up in unison at them, startled by the sudden bright light. He turned his torch off and the Ood moved to huddle more closely together, hiding from the strangers, each holding something tightly in both hands. They looked terrified.

“They look different to the others,” Donna said softly.

“That’s because they’ve not been processed,” Danni explained softly. Once again she was struck with just how much more horrible it was in real life than on television. The Ood looked so frightened. The cage they were in was tiny and dirty, and they smelt of waste and neglect. The whole room was unfit for anything, let alone keeping living creatures in. “They’re not slaves, yet, they’re just captives.”

The three crouched down in front of the cage, looking over the Ood sadly. Danni felt like she was about to cry. It was awful.

“That’s their song,” the Doctor said in realisation.

“I can’t hear it,” Donna replied with a slight shake of her head. The Doctor looked at her, eyes wide.

“Do you want to?”

Donna took a moment to really deliberate it but nodded, turning to him. “Yeah.”

“It’s the song of captivity,” he warned.

“Let me here it.”

The Doctor swallowed. “Face me,” he commanded gently. She did as he asked and he leant forward and placed his fingertips on her temples, closing his eyes. “Open your mind. That's it. Hear it, Donna... Hear the music.” Donna gasped and turned to face the Ood as the song rushed through her mind. Danni watched as tears began running down her face.

The Doctor turned to Danni, looking just as sombre as the situation needed. “Do you...” he began to ask and she shook her head quickly.

“No, please don't,” she begged in a whisper and he almost sighed in relief. He hadn't wanted her to hear it, he didn't want her to feel as sad as he and Donna felt. He’d come to realise just how deeply she felt everything, this would just break her heart.

“Take it away,” Donna sobbed and he turned back to her.

“You sure?”

“I can't bear it,” she admitted. She turned back to face him and he took the song away before turning back to the cage. She watched him for a moment before doing the same. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, ashamed.

“It's okay,” he reassured her.

“But you can still hear it.”

“All the time,” he confirmed softly. He reached across and pulled Danni up against him, holding her tightly. She looked up at him, slightly confused at the rather familiar behaviour but he continued to stare at the Ood as if it was normal for him. She hugged his arm back, giving him the comfort he needed. She didn’t need to hear the song to know how heart-breaking it was.

“This can't continue, can it?” she asked before tilting her head up to look at him. “We'll stop it, won't we?”

He nodded. “Yes,” he promised her. They all slowly stood up and the Doctor unlocked the cage with the screwdriver. There was a crash above them and Donna looked up.

“They're breaking in,” Donna exclaimed worriedly.

“Ah, let 'em,” the Doctor dismissed. He entered the cage first, followed by Danni and Donna. The Ood, terrified, shuffled away from them into one corner and he bent down to seem less threatening.

“What are you holding?” he asked them gently and one Ood looked up at him shyly. “Friend,” he promised it. “Doctor, Donna, Danni,” he motioned between all of them, “friend.” The Ood still seemed very shy so the Doctor scooted a little closer. “Look at me. Let me see,” he coaxed gently and it began shuffling closer to him. “That's it. That's it, go on. Go on.”

The Ood held out their hands, taking the top one off what they were cupping. Sat there was a small brain connected by a tube to their body, a little like an umbilical cord.

“Is that…” Donna started, surprised.

“Ood are born with two brains,” Danni explained softly. “One in the head and one in their hands.”

“A hindbrain,” the Doctor clarified. “Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be Donna anymore. You'd be like an Ood.” He looked back at the Ood. “A processed Ood.”

“So the company... cuts off their brains,” Donna whispered, horrified.

“And stitches on the translator,” the Doctor snapped out, teeth bared, almost snarling.

“Like a lobotomy,” Donna finished for him. “I spent all that time looking for both of you, Doctor, because I thought it would be so wonderful out here.” Tears were running down her face again, “I want to go home.”

The Doctor turned to look at her, stunned at her wish. Danni, now crying openly, couldn’t help but agree. Life with the Doctor always looked so good, but it was easy to forget the horror when you were watching it on television. Living through it was so much worse than she could have envisioned. The poor Ood, taken at birth and having everything torn from them without their consent was sickening.

“Humans are awful,” Danni whispered. She looked to the Ood. “I’m so sorry,” she continued. “You don’t deserve any of this.”

The door crashed open and the Doctor looked over his shoulder. “They're with the Ood, sir,” a voice called out. They turned to see a man in a suit approach them with a guard and a man in a white lab coat approaching. The Doctor jumped up and slammed the door to the cage shut, pushing his face between the bars.

“What are you gonna do, then?” the Doctor challenged. “Arrest me? Lock me up? Well, you're too late! _Ha_!”

_~0~0~0~_


	9. The Planet of the Ood

The cages were old and rusted, which meant that it wasn’t hard to get the trio out and drag them up to Mr Halpen’s office. Halpen, who was a balding man who Danni remembered for being absolutely awful and for his rather poetic ending, looked positively furious at their very existence. After seeing the horror of the Oods first-hand rather than on a screen she was glad they were causing more stress for him.

They were handcuffed to some of the pipes in the corner of his office. Donna cried out angrily as the cuffs were snapped roughly around her wrists. She shot the guard doing it a hate-filled glare, actually surprising the man. The Doctor and Danni had met her before; neither of them were surprised.

Mr Halpen, owner of the Ood Sphere, was perched on the edge of his desk across from them. He had his faithful Ood servant by his side, and Dr Ryder, who Danni remembered as the good guy from the episode and would have been happier to see him had she not been currently handcuffed to a pipe, tightly squeezed between the Doctor and Donna.

“Why don't you just come out and say it?” Halpen began. “ _FOTO_ activists.”

“Oh, most definitely, you bald git!” Danni snapped back at the horrific man. He reached up to touch the back of his head self-consciously, feeling the bald spot he obviously hated. She smirked and he pulled his hand, and a few bits of hair, back down as he realised what he was doing.

“If that's what Friends of the Ood are trying to prove, then yes,” the Doctor added, struggling slightly with the handcuffs. He was normally better about getting free, but for some reason he just couldn’t quite get into his pocket.

“The Ood were nothing without us. Just animals roaming around on the ice,” Halpen defended.

“That's because you can't hear them,” the Doctor snarled through gritted teeth. The horrors of humanity never ceased to surprise him.

“They welcomed it! It's not as if they put up a fight,” he pointed out with a laugh, as if their lack of aggression was pathetic, amusing even.

“You idiot!” Donna said, disgusted. “They're born with their brain in their hands, don't you see? That makes them peaceful! They've got to be because a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets.”

Danni turned and smiled at her. “Nice one.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed with a nod.

“Thank you,” she whispered and together as if they were always in sync, the trio glared at him.

He seemed unnerved by the anger, like part of him, just for a moment, agreed with Donna’s words. This angered him and he stormed over. “The system's worked for 200 years,” he told them, becoming more and more impatient. “All we've got is a rogue batch.” He smiled arrogantly because he knew he was in charge. “But the infection is about to be sterilised.” He raised his wrist to his mouth, pressing a button on his wrist communicator to active it. “Mr Kess, how do we stand?”

“ _Canisters primed, sir. As soon as the core heats up, the gas is released. Give it 200 marks... and counting,_ ” Mr Kess replied.

“You're going to gas them?!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“Kill the livestock. The classic foot-and-mouth solution from the olden days. Still works,” he explained calmly and coldly. He really didn’t see the Ood as anything but a commodity and it was horrid. Danni started to struggle against her handcuffs.

“You can’t just kill them!” she exclaimed. “They’re just scared!”

“Why not?” he replied smugly. “It’s not like they’re human.”

She stopped her struggling, meeting his gaze with a hard one of her own. “No, they’re not,” she agreed. “And if this is the way we treat them they are _so_ much better that us!”

As Halpen rolled his eyes, the Doctor couldn’t help but smile at her own passion. Just like Donna, she wasn’t going to stand for the injustice around her without, at the very least, shouting at the people responsible.

“Typical activist,” Halpen muttered. “Getting worked up over something with no feelings.”

“That's because you remove them!” Danni said with a loud, high-pitched voice. “You have to stop it!”

She could tell that he was going to taunt her some more, and she had some choice words for him in return, but the alarm rang out to signal the next part of the episode. She looked up at the ceiling at the same time as he did, but not because she was annoyed at the interruption. It wasn’t an episode, was it? She was on a planet, in space, where this was _really_ happening. Those Ood were really suffering. She looked over at Ood Sigma, eyes suddenly stinging with unshed tears.

“What the hell?” Halpen exclaimed angrily before rushing out of the room with Ood Sigma and Dr Ryder in tow.

“ _Emergency status! Emergency status!_ ”

“Oh, that’s never good,” the Doctor commented.

“The Ood are rebelling,” Danni explained to him.

“Do you blame them?” Donna retorted. “They’re going to kill everyone if we don’t help!”

Halpen quick returned to the room, pacing in front of the trio, his eyes darting around for a moment. “Change of plan,” he declared, as if he knew what his plan was.

“No reports of trouble off-world, sir. It's still contained to the Ood-Sphere,” Dr Ryder explained. The balding man nodded along.

“Then we've got a public duty to stop it before it spreads,” he decided.

“What's happening?” the Doctor demanded. Halpen turned to him, once again smiling with the smarmy smile that Danni was really glad would eventually be wiped off his face

“Everything you wanted, Doctor,” Halpen explained. “No doubt there'll be a full police investigation once this place has been sterilised so I can't risk a bullet to the head.” He looked incredibly displeased that he couldn’t kill them all, but the anger passed and the smugness reappeared again. “I'll leave you to the mercies of the Ood.”

He turned and began heading out, the guards following him. “But, Mr Halpen, there's something else, isn't there?” the Doctor called after him. He paused and turned to face the trio. “Something we haven't seen.”

“What do you mean?” Donna asked him.

“The Ood have two brains, which means that that they’ve got two centres of control. Imagine two of you trying to control the one person,” Danni told her. “There has to be something else. Something hidden that helps manage that fight.”

“She's right, isn't she?” the Doctor asked Halpen.

“Again, so clever.”

“It's got to be connected to the red-eye,” the Doctor reasoned. “What is it?” Halpen stormed up to the Doctor and looked him dead in the eye.

“ _It_ won't exist for very much longer,” he taunted before grinning. “Enjoy your Ood.” Even as Halpen led the guards and Dr Ryder out of the room, the three started to struggle against their handcuffs.

“Come on!” the Doctor encouraged, desperate to get them all out safe and to save the Ood from slaughter.

“Well, do something!” Donna exclaimed as they struggled. “You're the one with all the tricks! You must've met Houdini!”

The Doctor upped his efforts. “These are really good handcuffs!” he replied with a bit of a grunt in his voice.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I'm glad of that,” she retorted. “At least we've got _quality_!” Danni laughed at her sarcasm as they continued struggling.

“Where’s your screwdriver?” Danni asked. “Can’t you just use it and unlock us?”

“It’s-It’s in my top pocket,” he explained. “I can’t reach it.”

“Maybe-Maybe if you slide down, me or Donna can reach it,” she offered. “They’re going to be here any minute and I know they won’t hurt us, but I’d really rather be free!”

“I’m not being killed by an Ood, Spaceman,” Donna warned. “Get down!”

“You’re not going to be killed,” the Doctor snapped.

The door slid open and the all paused their arguing to see three Ood entered, all red-eyed and angry. They began advancing and the three doubled down on their efforts to get free.

“Doctor, Donna, Danni, friends!” he began to explain to them, quickly and with panic in the hopes that the Ood would listen.

“The circle must be broken!” Donna chimed in and the Doctor nodded in encouragement.

“Doctor, Donna, Danni, friends!”

“The circle must be broken!” Danni said, joining in with Donna, really not wanting to be murdered by an Ood when she’d barely been in the universe a couple of days. She knew, logically, in the episode the Ood realised they were friends and stopped before the Doctor and Donna were hurt. She was starting to see, though, that being there was a _lot_ different. Her heart was racing, her hands were getting sweaty from the panic and she faintly wondered if she had gigantic wrists and hands because the handcuffs did _not_ want to come off!

“The circle must be…” Donna trailed off, panting in her own panic as the Oods’ translator balls all turned off at the same time. They held their heads in their free hands, seemingly in a lot of pain, before they looked up again. The red-eyes were gone and they looked like regularly, friendly and not blood-thirsty at all.

Danni let out a small whimper in relief. “Doctor, Donna, Danni, friends,” one of the Oods repeated and the Doctor nodded eagerly.

“Yes, that’s us!” he crowed. “Friends! Oh, yes!”

“Let us out!” Danni urged. “The Doctor can help. We can help!”

_~0~0~0~_

The snow seemed to be falling faster than ever, but then again Danni was reminded of _the Christmas Invasion_. Was it really snow, or was it mixed with ash from the Oods attack on the people who had hurt them so terribly? She wouldn’t have been surprised from all of the shouting and gunfire if that really was the case. The noise was so loud and terrifying that, really, Danni wasn’t too scared of it at all. It felt so loud and consuming that she couldn’t really conceptualise what was happening. So, she focused on helping save the Ood.

The Doctor was running wildly, expecting the pair to keep up with him. Both of them were glad when they pulled into a secluded area.

“All-All the running,” Danni panted, bending over at the waist as she tried to catch her breath. “Where-We are we going?”

“I don’t know where it is!” the Doctor replied, his head moving to side to side as he tried to find his bearings. He glanced down at Danni, watching her closely for any tell. She tried so hard to keep her knowledge to herself but sometimes little tells would come out. He wasn’t sure where it came from, or even how far in advance she knew it, but she would occasionally glance, or say something without thinking and it really helped. He could never encourage it, but he needed to get to the Ood and fast.

She didn’t seem to be doing that this time, though. In fact, she looked a little shell shocked. Her eyes were wide and vacant, his jacket slipping slightly off one of her shoulders. She straightened and he reached out and pushed it back on. “How long have you been here?” he asked gently.

“Um, about two days,” she offered with a shrug.

That sounded about right. He glanced at Donna, who took her own turn on making sure that the younger ginger was wrapped up warmer. “What are we looking for?” she asked.

“Might be underground, like some sort of cave or a cavern, or…” he trailed off, trying to decide which way to go. Danni was so sure that they were supposed to still be running, but she held the long jacket closer. She was shaking even though she didn’t feel cold. Everything was so loud.

“We need-We need to find Ood Sigma,” she explained. “He can help us.”

“Ood Sigma?” the Doctor repeated. She nodded. “Any idea where?”

“You-You just keep running,” she replied. “I don’t know where.” She wished she could have offered more, but the TV show didn’t exactly offer floor plans and details descriptions of the base. Even if it did, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to remember. Was this what her life had become? Was she just a walking cheat sheet? Should she have even told him? As the Doctor grabbed her hand, pulling her along she realised that she had absolutely _zero_ idea what she was doing. The Doctor’s companions were chosen because they could see a wider universe than their own and he wanted to show them. They were strong and capable. She was just a girl from North England, with a little bit of an obsession over a television show. The only thing strong about her was her immune system. She was going to die, wasn’t she? The moment she landed somewhere she didn’t know, outside of an episode, she was going to die.

She screamed as a rogue bullet hit one of the groups of canisters they seemed to be continuously run past and it exploded, sending them all to the ground. Smoke flooded the area, more fire burning around them.

“Alright?” the Doctor asked Donna, who nodded. He looked to Danni. “Danni-Girl?”

She shook her head, but the Doctor could see that it had nothing to do with the fall. He wished he could have given her a little more time, and had he realised she was so new and young he might have tried harder earlier, but he couldn’t now. He reached out, rubbing her shoulder in comfort as he looked over his shoulder. “You’re alright,” he promised gently. From the smoke behind them, the Doctor saw a figure and his eyes widened in panic.

As the smoke cleared, Ood Sigma looked down on them with friendly eyes, like he had been waiting. Danni smiled weakly. “Told ya.”

The Doctor grinned at her. A big wide, wolfish grin that she recognised from the television and gave her a strange sense of comfort. If she truly did jump around his life – and survived – she was happy that he wanted her there. It already felt so hard, it would have been so much worse had he hated her.

He jumped off the floor, leaving the two women to get up themselves, rushing over to Ood Sigma. “Where is it?” he asked. “The third element. Take me to it.” He motioned between the trio. “We’re friends,” he insisted. “We can help.”

“This way, sir,” Ood Sigma said through his communicator, as polite as he always was. “It is in Warehouse 15. I will show you.”

“That’s a good Ood,” the Doctor praised as they started hurrying to the warehouse. The door was locked but, much like the Ood Conversion area, the Doctor broke it open with a quick zap of his screwdriver. The Doctor rushed down the stairs, taking two at a time, which was very easy with his gangly legs. Donna followed him, and Danni followed her, taking more care with the Doctor’s coat billowing behind her. She paused on the stairs before she reached the bottom. She could already see into the cavern where the third element, the shared Ood brain, laid trapped between electronic fencing and more security. It seemed like a giant brain suspended in the air should have been rather disgusting, but once again Danni just felt her heart break. Those poor Ood, all suffering, in pain, because someone wanted to make money from them.

Could she prevent this? Could she, if she jumped back to an earlier Doctor, tell him all about the Ood and he could save them sooner? She’d seen enough time travel in television and media to suggest that it wasn’t the best idea to interrupt the flow of time like that. If she told him, then there would be nothing to save, and then she would never tell him. Paradoxes like that were never good. Would she have to just sit there, on her knowledge, and not let a single person know? Did it all become her fault? All the bad in the universe and she couldn’t do a thing?

“Now it all makes sense,” the Doctor declared, looking over the area as he tried to work out just how the brain was trapped. “That's the missing link. The third element, binding them together. Forebrain, hindbrain and this. The telepathic centre. It's a shared mind... connecting all the Ood in song.”

A gun was cocked and Danni rushed down the remaining stairs to the Doctor’s side. The one piece of knowledge she did know and was prepared to use was that being by the Doctor’s side was the best place to be in most situations.

Halpen stepped out from the shadows, gun in hand and pointing it at them. The Doctor shifted on the spot, moving until he was stood slightly in front of Danni, like he was trying to shield her. She frowned slightly. That didn’t make any sense, did it?

“Cargo,” Halpen stated. “I can always go into cargo. I've got the rockets, I've got the sheds. Smaller business. Much more manageable without livestock.”

Dr Ryder followed him. “He's mined the area,” he told them all pointedly and Danni’s eyes widened. She remembered this. She remembered what happened to the man who found his way into Halpen’s business. Friend of the Ood. She was going to have to watch him die because everything she knew said she couldn’t interfere. Rose had saved her dad, and look what had happened. Marty McFly had almost erased himself from existence saving his dad from being hit by a car. What would happen if she saved Dr Ryder when he was supposed to die?

“They're gonna kill it,” Donna whispered in confusion, looking back down at the brain, unable to process the very idea.

“They found that _thing_ centuries ago beneath the northern glacier,” Halpen spat out in disgust.

“Those pylons,” the Doctor murmured to them both. Donna nodded along.

“In a circle,” Danni whispered sadly.

“' _The circle must be broken,_ '” Donna repeated in realisation.

“Dampening the telepathic field, stopping the Ood from connecting for 200 years.”

“And you, Ood Sigma, you brought them here. I expected better,” Halpen said to his servant, whose translator ball shone as he held it up.

“My place is at your side, sir,” he replied as it moved over to his master. Halpen chuckled darkly.

“Still subservient. Good Oo--” He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence, as if something was stuck in his throat. Danni smirked at him and then blinked in surprise as she was sure that Ood Sigma had tried to smile knowingly at her. He knew she knew. She laughed slightly, even in her dazed state. She really did like Ood.

“If that barrier thing's in place, how come the Ood started breaking out?” Donna asked, still confused.

“Maybe it's taken centuries to adapt. The subconscious reaching out,” the Doctor theorised.

“But the process was too slow, had to be accelerated,” Dr Ryder said knowingly, surprising everyone but Danni as he turned to Halpen. “You should never have given me access to the controls, Mr Halpen. I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends of the Ood, sir. It's taken me ten years to infiltrate the company. And I succeeded.”

Danni closed her eyes, looking away. She couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t just watch a man _die_. Halpen smirked. “Yes. Yes, you did.”

She didn’t realise she’d made her choice until she was tackling Dr Ryder to the ground. “Oh no, you don’t!” she cried, knocking him out of the way of Halpen, who stumbled as he tried to push Dr Ryder over the side and into the brain. Danni panted, scrambling up, looking around. Nothing seemed to have changed. No flying bat creatures looking to devour the universe. She grabbed Ryder by the arm. “Over here!”

She dragged him to the Doctor and Donna as he seemed too stunned to be moved. Danni, on the over hand, was stunned by how much better she felt for helping him. What was it that Donna had once said? Just save someone? Maybe they were wise words…

“You were going to murder him!” Donna exclaimed angrily. The Doctor pushed Danni back behind him, away from Halpen with a sharp shove that confused Danni slightly. He was angry at Halpen, not her.

“Very observant, Ginger.” Donna glared at him, completely affronted and the Doctor did the same to her. Danni thought it would have made her relax to see him treating Donna the same, but it didn’t. Maybe she was just too scared and tired to understand the situation completely, but the Doctor had shot her an angry look and she _knew_ it was directed at her.

“Now then, can't say I've ever shot anyone before,” Halpen started. He turned the gun in his hand, observing it with an air of amusement at the situation he’d found himself in. “Can't say I'm gonna like it, but, uh,” he pointed the gun back at them, “it's not exactly a normal day, is it? Still...”

Ood Sigma turned around to look at his master. “Would you like a drink, sir?” he asked with perfect timing. Danni smiled slightly.

Halpen, on the other hand, laughed in derision. “I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now, thanks.” Ood Sigma stepped in front of the Doctor, Donna, Danni and Dr Ryder and held a shot glass of liquid out to him.

“Please have a drink, sir,” he tried again. The Doctor placed a hand on Ood Sigma's shoulder, ready to move him if necessary.

“If—if you're gonna stand in their way, I'll… shoot… you… too.” Halpen’s words were slow and slurred, like he had something heavy in his mouth that he couldn’t move out.

“Please have a drink, sir,” Ood Sigma insisted. Halpen looked down at the drink then up at his faithful Ood in panic.

“Have—have you... poisoned me?”

“Natural Ood must never kill, sir,” Ood Sigma replied with a tilt of his head.

“What is that stuff?” the Doctor asked.

Ood Sigma didn’t even look back at the Doctor. “Ood-graft suspended in a biological compound, sir.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Halpen demanded, hand on his head. He must have felt like his brain was trying to escape his skull. It was very hard to feel sorry for him.

“Oh dear,” the Doctor said tauntingly.

“Tell me!”

“Funny thing, the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes,” the Doctor replied instead. “It came out in the red-eye as revenge. It came out in the rabid Ood as anger. And then there was patience.”

“Ood Sigma didn’t need violence because he knew there was a better way,” Danni added. “Death is quick. He knew your punishment was coming.”

“How's the hair loss, Mr Halpen?” the Doctor asked him happily.

Halpen reached up and pulled a large clump of hair out of his head. He pointed the gun at Ood Sigma but his hand shook wildly. “What have you done?” he sobbed, voice thick and slowing down again.

“Oh, they've been preparing you for a very long time,” the Doctor told him harshly. “And now you're standing next to the Ood brain. Mr Halpen, can you hear it? Listen.”

Halpen looked down at the brain in fright. “What have you--I'm... not--” He tried one last time to aim his gun but he was shaking so hard with what was happening to him that Ood Sigma very easily stepped out of the way. Halpen coughed, his tongue seemingly too big for his mouth. He dropped his gun before reaching up, gripping the back of head with both hands. He pulled downwards, tearing his skin away and revealing the new Ood head underneath. With one last cough the tentacles come out of his mouth, indicating that the process had worked incredibly well.

Danni felt the bile rise in her throat. The man deserved everything he got, but it was very hard to watch. His old skin was now just on the floor, two halves of a whole face. It was too gruesome, how had this ever been on television?!

“They—they turned him into an Ood?” Donna asked, stunned.

“Yup,” Danni murmured, looking away from the floor.

“That’s remarkable,” Dr Ryder breathed out.

“He's an Ood,” Donna pointed out, like no one else could see him but her.

“Absolutely remarkable,” Dr Ryder repeated.

“We noticed,” the Doctor replied to Donna as they started at him, dumbfounded. The new Ood Halpen coughed up his secondary brain and caught it in his hand, the process now complete.

“He has become Ood-kind and we will take care of him,” Ood Sigma told them. Donna held her head, a massive headache growing.

“It's weird, being with you. I can't tell what's right and what's wrong anymore,” she told the Doctor.

“It's better that way. People who know for certain tend to be like Mr Halpen,” he replied.

“We have to stop the bomb,” Dr Ryder declared suddenly, just as a beeping started coming from the hole. The Doctor ran to the fence, reaching over to turn off one of the detonation packs, destroying the circuit and the bomb. “That’s better!” he crowed before running over the controls. His hands hovered over them like an excited child, but he turned to Ood Sigma anyway. “Ood

 A beeping sound began to come from the hole and the Doctor jumped, “Oh!” He reached over the fence and turned off one of the detonation packs, destroying the circuit and turning the huge bomb off, “That's better. And now...” He ran over to the controls before turning to Ood Sigma. “Sigma, will you allow me the honour?” he asked.

“It is yours, Doctor,” Ood Sigma replied with a small bow of his head.

“Oh yes!” the Doctor cheered, grinning from ear to ear, as he typed on the controls. “Stifled for over 200 years but not anymore. The circle is broken. The Ood can sing!” He flips a lever and the field around the brain was shut off.

The music was beautiful. Simply beautiful. Danni hadn’t been able to listen to the Song of Captivity, but she had no choice to listen as the Oods all sang out joyously at their freedom, and she was so thankful that she could hear it. All the horror, and the questionable morals, were all worth it just to hear the Ood sing. For the first time it felt like, maybe, being stuck in the Doctor’s universe wasn’t such a terrible thing. The harmony, the peace, the love that surrounded them all… It was just… _beautiful._

“I can hear it!” Donna cried out, elated and Danni could only nod along. She had tears in her eyes again, but this time they were very much because she was happy.

The Doctor pulled her up against him, her back pressed against his front as he wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on the top of her head. She tilted her head slightly to smile up at him, surprised at how comfortable he was with her, and how comfortable she felt when he hugged her. He grinned back and they all just stood there and listened.

_~0~0~0~_

It had been sad to leave the Ood, but knowing they were in a better place made it a lot easier. Plus, Danni knew that the Doctor would see Ood Sigma and his brothers again. Maybe she would get to see them again too. Of course, that would mean the Master. Did she want to meet the Master? Perhaps she would be better staying out of _that_ mess. She’d probably end up on the Earth with Martha Jones, and to be honest camping had never been her style.

Donna decided that she was very much done with the day, so had headed off for a shower and some sleep. Danni felt like she really should have done the same, but her brain with still wired off the joy of the Ood and the excitement, so she sat on the pilot seat and swung her legs as the Doctor set them off away from the Ood Sphere.

“Doctor?” she asked.

“Mmm?”

“Were you mad at me before? When I saved Dr Ryder?”

He paused in his movements. Truth was, he had been, but he hadn’t exactly wanted to be. And knowing that she hadn’t been travelling along his time line for long made it both better and worse. He turned to lean against the console.

“Did you save Dr Ryder before because you knew he was going to die?” he asked. She nodded and he sighed. “You can’t just change the future like that. Not because of knowledge you already have?”

“Why not?” she retorted. “He was trying to save the Ood. Do you just expect me to sit there and watch people die?”

“One wrong life saved in the wrong place and you could tear the universe apart with a paradox so huge nothing could save it!” he replied.

“By and large the universe sorts paradoxes out itself!” she defended firmly. He rolled his eyes. He hadn’t realised that her stubbornness had been there for the entire time. He also didn’t realise that _he_ was going to have to be the one to teach her all this. Wasn’t she supposed to have known it already?

His eye roll just annoyed her. “I'm not stupid,” she snapped. “I know that if I try and change fixed points, big events, it could all go wrong and I'll crash out the universe, but I’m not going to stand there while someone’s in danger, whether I know what happens next or not!”

“You don't know which points in time are fixed and which are in flux. You told me...”

She’d told him? It was amazing how much the prospect of her future self saying anything annoyed her. It had been the same when Amy had casually brought her up, and when she thought back later on to Eleven calling her young it would anger her too. But it frustrated her, and upset her, and she shot off the pilot seat and glared at him, hands on her hips. His eyes widened and she felt a bit smug; she’d obviously shouted at him before and he knew what was coming. Good.

“I haven’t told you anything yet!” she shouted. “I’ve not had time! I was almost eaten by a giant spider, dissected, told I was never going home again and then almost killed by some Ood! I wish people would stop saying that! When the hell was I supposed to tell you anything?!” She took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Look,” she started again. “I saved him because I could save him. I’m going to save anyone I can. I won’t change anything big, but I’m not sitting back and you can’t expect me to jump around your time line and not try and make the universe better. Not everyone has to die. Sometimes you just have to save someone.”

Her words hadn’t been deliberate, but as he smiled fondly, she realised that he’d just been to Pompeii, which means that Donna had already had this talk with him. She kept her gaze firm and locked with his, though. She was trapped but she wasn’t about to just roll over at every confrontation. She had a lot of anger inside of her, a lot of hurt and she was sure a lot of grief was coming her way. Unfortunately, he was just going to have to grin and bear it.

“Oh, Danni-Girl,” he sighed before smiling. “You’re right. Like always.”

She grinned. “Glad you realise this, Spaceman. I've got a lot of jumping to do, it's nice to know you're ready to concede that fact.”

“No changing big things,” he warned her. “But I'll give you some of the small things. Sometimes, not everyone has to die.”

She clapped happily and he laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She allowed herself to snuggle into his side slightly. “Are you tired?” he asked. “It’s been a busy day for you.”

She shook her head. “I’m too wound up to be tired,” she explained. “I just- I just have so many questions, you know? This big ball of thoughts and feelings are inside of me and I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t find out the answers.”

The Doctor could totally understand that. He gave her another squeeze before letting her go to sit back down on the pilot seat again. “I can’t answer a lot,” he warned. “Anything about your personal future I can’t tell you. But I still might be able to help,” he offered. “If-If you like?”

Danni pressed her lips together. “So no asking if I go to Pompeii, for example?”

“Just as I’m not allowed to ask how you know that I went to Pompeii at all,” he replied. She nodded slowly.

“Alright,” she said softly. A lot of her questions had been to do with where she would go, what order she would see him in. It already was completely out of whack so she couldn’t even go off what she knew about each season. And this Doctor probably wouldn’t know how far into his future she would go, anyway, considering he hadn’t lived long enough yet.

“Okay,” she said with a little nod. “Can you—” she looked over at him. “Do you know why I’m here?” she asked timidly. “Why I’m caught on your time line? Do you know what I did to… well, to deserve this?”

He took a sharp intake of breath through his teeth and she immediately thought that she’d asked the wrong question. “Nothing,” he quickly answered, to her surprise. “You did nothing wrong. No one deserves what is happening to you.” Once again her emotions got the better of her and the adrenaline was slowly fading away to emotional exhaustion. “I don’t know why you’re here,” he replied bluntly. “I don’t know why you, or why that manipulator, or if it was accidental or by design. I was always trying to find out, but…” He looked off to the side, guilty. “Well, things get in the way.”

“Like Ood?” she asked, trying to be cheeky and he chuckled hollowly.

“Or Pompeii,” he agreed. He walked over, crouching down in front of her and gave her that warm smile that had endeared David Tennant to her in the first place. And yet, coming from the Doctor, she genuinely felt like everything was going to be okay. It was rather amazing, to be perfectly honest.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m going to figure it out.”

She nodded. “I know,” she said sincerely. “You always do.”

_~0~0~0~_


End file.
